Antibacterial activity of araceae: An overview

Abstract

Infectious diseases account for approximately one-half of all deaths in tropical countries. In industrialized nations, despite the progress made in the understanding of microbiology and their control, incidents of epidemics due to drug resistant microorganisms and the emergence of hitherto unknown disease-causing microbes, pose enormous public health concerns. Historically, plants have provided a good source of antiinfective agents and remain highly effective instruments in the fight against microbial infections. The Araceae is a large family comprising some hundred genera and more than fifteen hundred species. Most of the aroids prefer to grow in moist or shady habitats. Some are terrestrial while others are vines, creepers or climbers. Many species of the aroids are also epiphytes. Many plants of family Araceae have been reported to have antibacterial activities and huge number of researches are going on with the different plants of Araceae for screening of pure compounds responsible for this antibacterial activity. Present article will highlight the antibacterial activity of different plants of Araceae family. © 2010 IJRAP.