ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF Murraya koenigii AGAINST FEW Staphylococcus spp. AND DEVELOPMENT OF A TOPICAL CREAM

Traditional medicinal plants often offer suitable drug candidates as an alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Plant extracts may be formulated to a suitable dosage form to treat the disease in an effective way. In the present study, we report the antibacterial activities of the ethanol extract of M. koenegii leaves against few selected Staphylococcus spp. such as S. aureus and S. epidermidis, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis (MRSE) together with formulation and evaluation of a topical cream containing M. koenigii extract. The antibacterial activity of the extract was performed by disc diffusion assay using vancomycin (30 µg) as the standard. The extract revealed good antibacterial activity against tested organisms in a concentration dependant manner. The cream was formulated by incorporating 10% w/w of the ethanol extract in the base. Physical evaluation of the cream revealed ideal characteristics of an ideal cream. Further studies may be recommended to isolate the bioactive principles from the leaves to develop newer drug moiety against MRSA and MRSE. Keywords: Murraya koenigii L. Spreng, Antibacterial, MRSA, MRSE, Topical cream