Antimicrobial screening of Trikatu and Sitopladi Churnas

Abstract

Ayurvedic system of medicine prescribes a number of crude drugs for longevity of life and for curing various ailments. In the present study we have selected two most commonly used ayurvedic formulations i.e. Trikatu and Sitopladi churnas. which are used against respiratory tract infections. The petroleum ether, acetone, methanolic and aqueous extracts of each plant was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, S. sanguis, S. salivarius, S. mutans, Lactobacillus acidophillus, E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Salmonella typhi, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus megneterium, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, Candida albicans  and it was found that methanolic extracts exhibited the highest degree of activity. Zingiber officinales (tuber) and Piper longum (fruits) produced outstanding antibacterial effect with inhibition zone greater than 20 mm against most of the pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration of most effective extract (methanolic) was performed against E. coli, B. subtilis, S. pneumoniae and S. pyogenes whereas P. longum showed best results against E.coli (0.0391 mg/ml) and Z. officinales against B. subtilis (0.0391mg/ml).