Abstract

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIBIOFILM POTENTIAL OF SHILAJIT

*Anuya Aparna Rege and Dipti Bhushan Kolte

ABSTRACT

Natural products have been used for a long time in treating human diseases and they contain many constituents of therapeutic value. One such natural products used for therapeutic purposes is Shilajit which is a herbomineral. In the present in vitro study, antimicrobial activity of Shilajit was evaluated against total 9 organisms, viz., 4 gram negative bacteria, 3 gram positive bacteria and 2 fungi using various assays. The said study revealed broad spectrum antibacterial activities, inhibiting gram negative as well as gram positive bacteria and no antifungal activity by Shilajit through MIC, MBC/MFC and Agar Well Diffusion assays. Hence, anti-Biofilm potential of Shilajit was further evaluated against total 7 bacteria using crystal violet staining method. The antibiofilm activity of Shilajit was noted in the order of E. faecalis > E. coli > B. subtilis > MRSA > K. pneumoniae. However, Shilajit did not show antibiofilm effect against P. aeruginosa and S. typhi. The combination Shilajit (SH) and standard antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (CP) displayed antibiofilm effect in the order of K. pneumoniae > P. aeruginosa > E. coli > E. faecalis > MRSA > S. typhi > B. subtilis. The combination SH + CP also exhibited higher inhibitory effect on mixed biofilm than that of Ciprofloxacin alone. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm potential of Shilajit could be attributed to its chemical composition as well as presence of elements such as Al, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni and Zn. Moreover, this is the first report on Antibiofilm potential of Shilajit.

Keywords: Shilajit, Ayurveda, Natural Products, Antimicrobial, Antibiofilm activity.