Preliminary study on the antimicrobial activity ofEnicostemma littorale using different solvents

• Published in: 亚太热带医药杂志（英文版） 2012 (7), p.552-555
• Main Authors: Pitchamuthu Abirami, Muthiah Gomathinayagam, Rajaram Panneerselvam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1995-7645
• DOI: 10.1016/S1995-7645(12)60097-2

ABSTRACT Objective:To study the antimicrobial activity ofEnicostemma littorale (E. littorale) using different solvents.Methods:Chloroform, methanol and acetone extracts of different parts of E. littorale(leaf, stem and root) were evaluated for antimicrobial activity using disc diffusion method against some gram-negative species such asEscherichia coli, Klebsiella pnemoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and gram-positive species Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus,Bacillus subtilis and two fugal speciesviz., Aspergillus fumigates andAspergillus flavus.Results:The chloroform extracts showed the highest antibacterial activity.Among leaf, stem and root extracts, the stem extracts showed maximum antibacterial activity.All of the used extracts had no significant antifungal activity againstAspergillus fumigates andAspergillus flavus.The chloroform stem extract showed highest activity(about20 mm inhibition zone) against Bacillussubtilis(at500 mg/mL) followed by the methanolic stem extract which showed highest activity against the same organism.The lowest antibacterial activity was observed by the acetone leaf extract(about8 mm inhibition zone) againstEscherichia coli.Conclusions:The findings of the study indicate littorale could also be a new source for antibiotics discovery.