Abstract

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF A TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PLANT AGAINST PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS CAUSING URINARY TRACT INFECTION

A.K. U mera Begam* and R. Senthilkumar

ABSTRACT

Bacterial pathogens have evolved numerous defense mechanisms against antimicrobial agents; hence resistance to old and newly produced drugs is on the rise. The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance exhibited by the pathogenic microorganisms has led to the need for screening of several medicinal plants for their potential antimicrobial activity. Thus the present study was undertaken to investigate the antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract of a traditional medicinal plant which is used in our daily cuisine, against few urinary tract infection causing pathogens like Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Entereococcus and Enterobacter by well diffusion method. Our studies concluded that crude extracts of the selected plant especially exhibited significant activity against Streptococcus and the activity was found to be more pronounced than the control standand drug commonly employed as antibiotic for treating the infection. It can be concluded that these plants can be used to discover natural products that may serve as lead for the development of new pharmaceuticals addressing the major therapeutic needs.

Keywords: Antibacterial, Solanum torvum, urinary tract infection.