Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of the Medicinal Plant Veronica biloba

Abstract

Plants are naturally God gifted for the synthesis of medicinal compound and provide a great help in a new discovery in the area of chemical diversity because of the unknown availability either as a standardized extract or as a pure compound. The medicinal plant Veronica biloba extracts obtained through Soxhlet and maceration methods were subjected to preliminary antimicrobial screening against pathogenic microorganisms. Fractionation was performed using liquid-liquid extracts such as ethyl acetate, water, dichloromethane, and hexane extract of plant, and the fractions were tested for antifungal activity and antibacterial activity using well-diffusion method at sample concentration of 10-30 μL. The result indicated that all extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity against all test pathogens. The ethyl acetate extract showed greater activity than other corresponding extracts. Among various extracts, only the ethyl acetate extract show potential against bacterial (gram negative and gram positive) and fungus test strain greater than standard Nystatin test control. Thus, the extract of Veronica biloba could be used to treat microbial (fungus and bacterial strain) infection.