Abstract

EFFICACY OF AQUEOUS AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS CASUARINA EQUISETIFOLIA FOR POTENTIAL ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

Uma Maheswari Narendra Kumar* and Thenmozhi Panneerselvam

ABSTRACT

Casuarina equisetifolia the most cultivated species of casuarinales In India. The plant is used in folk medicine for the treatment of astringent in diarrhoea, cough, ulcers, toothache, lotion for swelling and diabetes. The antimicrobial activities of leaves and bark extract were investigated against medically important bacterial and fungal species,namely S.aureus ,E.coli ,Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Proteus vulgaris K. pneumoniae and Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus and Fusarium. The antimicrobial activity of aqueous and ethanol extract was determined by agar disc diffusion method. Ethanol extracts were more active than the aqueous extract. The plant extract were more active against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The most susceptible bacteria were Pseudomonas aeroginosa > K. pneumonia > Proteus vulgaris > E.coli > S.aureus and A.niger. From the screening experiment, leaves extract of Casuarina equisetifolia showed the best antimicrobial activity, hence this plant can be further subjected to isolation of the therapeutic antimicrobials and further pharmacological evaluation.

Keywords: Aqueous extract, Ethanol extract, Antimicrobial activity.