Abstract

ANTIMICROBIAL EVALUATION OF LEAVES & ROOT BARK OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM. – A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Dr. Malvika Saini*, Dr. Mukesh Kumar Bhamu, Gaurav Sharma, Dr. Mita Kotecha

ABSTRACT

Background: Moringa oleifera Lam. is a well-known plant for its krimighna action from ancient times. A lot of work has been done on leaves & seeds for their pharmacological actions. But limited work has been done on roots. Therefore this study was carried out. Methods: Both aqueous and alcoholic extracts of leaves of both plants at 10, 20, 30% concentrations were tested for antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion method against a range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Zone of inhibition of extracts were determined, then activity index & IC50 value was calculated. Results: Both ethanol and Aqueous extracts of leaves & root bark of Moringa oleifera Lam. inhibited the growth of all the tested strains of bacteria. Ethanolic extract of root bark of Moringa oleifera Lam. has more potent action against all microorganism i.e. ZOI (12mm, 16mm, 11mm, 13mm respectively), AI( 0.6, 0.64, 0.611 resp.), IC50 (1.626, 1.597, 1.685, 1.970 resp). aqueous extract of root bark of Moringa oleifera Lam. is effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with ZOI of 13mm, activity index of 0.65, IC50 of 1.763 Conclusion: Root bark of Moringa oleifera Lam. has more potent antimicrobial action against all the four strains of bacteria in comparison to leaves of Moringa oleifera Lam.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera Lam., bacteria, antimicrobial activity, Zone of inhibition, activity index, IC50 value.