Author(s):

Deepa Dahar and Aruna Rai

Abstract: The use of plants in treatment of burns, dermatophytes and infectious diseases is common in traditional medicines. Antibiotics are one of our most important weapons in fighting bacterial infections and have greatly benefited the health related quality of human life since their introduction. The development of new antimicrobial agents against resistant pathogens is increasing interest of scintists. In the present study methanolic extracts of leaf, stem and stem bark of Ailanthus excelsa, Quassia amara and Simarouba glauca from Simaroubaceae family were used for antimicrobial activity. It was found that most plant extracts studied had antibacterial and antifungal activities. The methanolic extracts of Quassia leaf, Simarouba leaf and Simarouba bark showed strong antibacterial activity against all four bacterial species i.e. Escherichia coli, Proteus bacilli, Staphylococcus aureus and Corynebacterium diphtheria. All plant extracts were found to show better antifungal activity against Candida albicans as compared to Aspergillus niger. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by using DPPH scavenging activity. The results suggest that methanolic extracts of leaf, stem and stem bark of Ailanthus excelsa, Quassia amara and Simarouba glauca has promising antioxidant activity and could serve as a potential source for natural antioxidants. Hence, these plants can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals research activities.

Pages: 2576-2579  |  1582 Views  737 Downloads

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