ANTIMICROBIAL INVESTIGATION OF AMMANIA BACCIFERA LINN. AGAINST SOME URINARY AND GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT INFECTION CAUSING PATHOGENS

The plant Ammania baccifera Linn., commonly known as Jangli mendi, belonging to the family Lythraceae was investigated for its antimicrobial activity against some selected urinary tract (UT) and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) infection causing pathogens and human pathogenic fungi. The ethanolic extract of the whole plant as well as its leaves, stems and roots were screened to evaluate the antibiogram pattern followed by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) study. The extracts were then screened for their antibacterial activity against some UTI and GIT infection causing pathogens viz. Staphylococcus aureus MTCC*1430, Enterococcus faecalis MTCC 2729, Escherichia coli MTCC 118, Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 1035, Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC 109, Proteus mirabilis MTCC 743, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae and antifungal activity against some human pathogenic fungi viz. Aspergillus niger MTCC 1344, Candida albicans MTCC 3017, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei by disc diffusion assay method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was evaluated by two fold serial dilution assay method. The HPTLC study of the ethanolic extract of whole plant revealed the presence of eight number of components in the chromatogram developed at 254 nm. The ethanolic extract of. whole plant of A. baccifera showed highest antibacterial efficiency followed by leaf, stem and root extracts respectively. However, ethanolic extracts of whole plant and leaves exhibited moderate antifungal potency followed by stem and root extracts, respectively. The results of MIC indicated that the whole plant extract inhibited P. mirabilis, K. pneumoniae, S. typhi and A. niger at a concentration of 62.5 g/ml thus exhibited broad spectrum of inhibition.