Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Properties of Corn (Zea mays L.) Silk

Corn silk (stigma of female flower) is used medicinally against some diseases caused by various pathogenic bacteria. The present study was aimed to identify some medicinal properties of corn silk and investigate its antimicrobial activities in different solvents viz., ethanol, chloroform and methanol extracts (10 mg/ml each) in comparison to streptomycin (10 mg/ml). All the extracts showed variable degree of inhibitory zone by using disc diffusion method against tested bacteria. The highest inhibition zone (13.17 and 12.27 mm) was observed in 10.0 mg/ml of ethanol and methanol, respectively. Ethanol extract showed significant antimicrobial activity against both Gram positive bacteria (13.17 to 9.45 mg/ml) and Gram negative bacteria (12.36 to 8.15 mg/ml) bacteria. No extract was sensitive against Escherichia coli and yeast strain.