Author(s):

Syed Nyamath and B Karthikeyan

Abstract: Lemongrass is an herb which belongs to gramineae family. Scientifically it is called as Cymbopogon citratus. The prefix lemon owes to its typical lemon like odour, due to presence of citral a cyclic monoterpene. Lemongrass has phytoconstituents such as tannins, flavanoids, alkaloids, and various essential oils in this herb. Secondary active metabolites of a number of components have also been implicated in the varied pharmalogical effects of this plant. lemongrass possesses various antimicrobial properties. The extracts of lemon grass leaves (fresh and dried) with cold, hot and different solvents like ethanol and methanol were screened for its antimicrobial activity against various bacteria Bacillus vallismortis, Lysinibacillus macroides, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, vibrio cholera, at three different concentrations by agar well method. Lemon grass extract was found effective against all the test organisms Among the reported organisms, staphylococcus aureus recorded a greater zone of inhibition (12.50mm) at 1000 ppm concentration in ethanol dried leaves extract when compared to other organisms. The least zone of inhibition was observed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.0mm) in hot water fresh leaves extract at 250 ppm this results pertainning that the lemongrass leaves extract possess a great antimicrobial activity against the antibiotic resistant microorganisms.

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