Abstract

ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF HYDRO-ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF A POLYHERBAL FORMULATION

Revathi.S and Saraswathi.U*

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study is to assess the antimicrobial activity of hydro-ethanolic extract of a polyherbal formulation (Chathurmuka chooranam) against several bacterial and fungal strains. The antibacterial activity of different concentrations (500-2000 µg/ml) of hydroethanolic extract against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus substilis), gram negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia.coli and Pseudomonas aeroginosa) organisms and the antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum at different concentrations (1000 and 2000 µg/ml) were evaluated. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was also measured. The results revealed that the polyherbal extract possesses considerable amount of antimicrobial inhibition against the tested strains and MIC values showed maximum activity even at very low concentrations. These results suggest that the secondary metabolites and phytoconstiutents might be responsible for the antimicrobial activity.

Keywords: Chathurmuka chooranam, MIC values, antifungal, antibacterial.