Biological investigation of Macrotyloma uniflorum Linn. extracts against some pathogens

Abstract

In the present research, attempt was taken to explore the antimicrobial potency of the crude extracts of the Macrotyloma uniflorum plant. The extractives of the plant were subjected to screening for inhibition of microbial growth by the disc diffusion method. The zones of inhibition demonstrated by the dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, 1-butanol and aqueous extracts ranged from 11-16, 10-24, 10-14 and 10-12 mm, respectively at a concentration of 500 μg disc-1. The ethyl acetate extract showed promising antibacterial activities against all the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria whereas dichloromethane extract showed moderate activities and the 1-butanol and aqueous extracts did not show any significant antimicrobial activities. In addition, the antifungal activities of all the extractives were tested, using the food poisoning technique. Only dichloromethane extract has been proved to be active against all fungi tested with a higher inhibition activity than standard nystatin. The overall results provide promising baseline information for the potential use of the crude extracts from M. uniflorum in the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.