A Comparative Study on Anti-Microbial Activity Exhibited by Stevia rebaudiana l. Bertoni in Methanol and Chloroform Extract

Stevia an exotic medicinal plant, is the worlds only natural sweetener with zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycaemic index. The leaves of stevia are the source of diterpene glycosides, stevioside and rebaudioside. Because of these components, this herb is a natural sweetener plant, estimated to be 300 times sweeter than sugar cane. Plant tissue culture is a suitable approach for micro propagation and production of valuable secondary metabolites of plants. A present procedure has been outlined for antimicrobial screening of a medicinal herb, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. In vivo grown leaf extracts in different solvent system were screened for potential antimicrobial activity with zone of inhibition against standard and medically important bacterial and fungal strains by disc diffusion method. The chloroform and methanol extract exhibited a concentration dependent antibacterial and antifungal inhibition. The methanolic extracts of in vivo plants of Stevia showed best antibacterial and antifungal activity against a number of microorganisms. The resultant of which proved the Stevias potential antimicrobial agent as non-antibiotics sources. Therefore, commercial manufacture of active constituents from these improved elite lines would be useful and profitable.