Evaluation of antibacterial activity of some medicinal plants used by

Sugali tribe of Yerramalais forest of Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords:
Antibacterial. Antifungal, Medicinal Plants, Disc diffusion method.
ABSTRACT:


In the present work an attempt has been made to carry out screening for the
preliminary antibacterial activity of different plants used by Sugali tribes of Yerramalis
forest. Fifteen plants were selected for preliminary screening for their antibacterial
potentiality, The antibacterial activity was done against four bacterial strains,
viz., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli,.
The preliminary screening experiment revealed that methanol extracts were more
potent than the aqueous extracts. The most susceptible bacteria were K.
pneumoniae and the most resistant bacteria were E. coli. Bauhinia racemosa L.
exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity.
027-031 | JRPS | 2011 | Vol 1 | No 1
This article is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.0), which gives permission for unrestricted use, non-commercial, distribution, and
reproduction in all medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
www.plantsciences.info
Authors:
Khaleel Basha S
1
,
Sudarsanam G
2
, Hari
Babu Rao D
3
,
Niaz Parveen
4
.



Institution:
1. Department of Botany
and Microbiology. Osmania
UG&PG College, Kurnool
District, Andhra Pradesh,
India.

2. Department of Botany,
S.V. University, Tirupati,
Chittor District, Andhra
Pradesh, India.

3. Department of Botany,
S.B.S.Y.M Degree College,
Kurnool, Kurnool District,
Andhra Pradesh, India.

4. Department of Botany ,
Osmania womens College,
Kurnool, Kurnool District,
Andhra Pradesh, India.




Corresponding author:
Khaleel Basha S



Email:
khaleelbasha23@yahoo.com



Web Address:
http://plantsciences.info/
documents/PS0003.pdf.


Dates:
Received: 22 Oct 2011 /Accepted: 08 Nov 2011 /Published: 28 Nov 2011
Article Citation:
Khaleel Basha S, Sudarsanam G, Hari Babu Rao D, Niaz Parveen.

Evaluation of antibacterial activity of some medicinal plants used by Sugali tribe of
Yerramalais forest of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2011) 1: 027-031
Original Research Paper
Journal of Research in Plant Sciences
J
o
u
r
n
a
l

o
f

R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h

i
n

P
l
a
n
t

S
c
i
e
n
c
e
s

An International Scientific Research Journal
Journal of Research in
Plant Sciences
An International Scientific
Research Journal


INTRODUCTION
Traditional system of medicine plays a very
prominent role in the healthcare system of the rural
people covering all types of ailments. Rig-Veda and
Atharvanaveda have details to cure different
diseases. Plants used for traditional medicine
contain a wide range of substances that can be used
to treat chronic as well as infectious diseases. The
medicinal value of plants lies in some chemical
substances that produce a definite physiological
action on the human body. The most important of
these bioactive compounds of plants are alkaloids,
f l a va noi d s , t a n n i n s a n d p he n o l i c
compounds .Kurnool district is present in Andhra
Pradesh,India, situated between eastern longitudes
of 76
0
58-78
0
56 and northern latitudes of 14
0
54;-
16
0
14. Tribals like any other group of population
live in and depend upon the environment. The
present paper deals with the Sugalis (also called
Banjaras) one of the largest and advanced nomadic
tribes of Andhra Pradesh, inhabiting the
Yerraamalais range of Eastern Ghats of Kurnool
district of Andhra Pradesh. The potential of higher
plants as source for new drugs is still largely
unexplored. Among the estimated 250,000-500,000
plant species, only a small percentage has been
investigated phytochemically and the fraction
submitted to biological or pharmacological
screening is even smaller. Medicinal plants
represent a rich source of antimicrobial agents.
Plants are used medicinally in different countries
and are a source of many potent and powerful
drugs. Considering the vast potentiality plants as
sources for antimicrobial drugs with reference to
antibacterial and antifungal agents, a systematic
investigation was undertaken to screen the local
flora for antibacterial activity viz., Abutilon
indicum L., Acorous calamus L., Ammania
baccifera L., Argyrea nervosa Burm. F., Bahinai
racemosa L ., Biophytum sensitivum DC., Bauhinia
variegata L., Cardiospermum halicabum L.,
Ci s s a mp e l o s p a r e i r a L . , Cr a t a e v a
religiosa Forst., Holarrhena antidysenterica L.,
Leucas aspera L Piper nigrum L.,Plumbago
zeylanica L., Psoralea corylifolia L., Considering
the above aspects, an attempt has been made to
carry out the screening for preliminary antibacterial
activity of different plants used in Indian folk
medicine. The most potent plant extract was
selected for further study. The aim of the study was
to select an active plant extract which may be useful
in developing new lead compounds to combat
deadly diseases.
Many efforts have been made to discover
new antimicrobial compounds from various kinds
of sources such as soil, microorganisms, animals
and plants( Srivastava et al., 1996) One such
resource is folk medicines, and systematic
screening of these may result in the discovery of
novel effective compounds (Bhavnani et al.,
20001). Making antibacterial drug therapy
effective, safe and affordable has been the focus of
interest during recent years (Janovska et al.,2003).
There are several reports on antimicrobial activity
of different herbal extracts (Sharma et al.,2002,
Adelakum et al., 2001,Comporese et al., Bonjar et
al., 2003, de Boer et al.,Nair et al., 2005).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection of plant materials( Ethnobotanical
survey)
Plants were selected for this study based on
their medicinal use. Fresh plant parts were collected
from the tribal villages (thndas) in Yerramalais
forest of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India
in Jan April 2009. The ethnobotanical data (local
name, mode of preparation, medicinal uses) were
collected through questionnaire, interviews and
discussions among the tribal practitioners in their
local language (Telugu) Vijayakumar et al.,1998,
Jeevan Ram et al.,2001). The voucher specimens
with field numbers (1001, 1009, 1123, 1278, 1289,
1290. 1300, 1305, 1345, 1378, 1389, 1399, 1404,
1409, 1456) in duplicate were deposited in the
Botany Department herbarium of Osmania College,
Kurnool. Andhra Pradesh (India).The leaves were
shade dried and powdered. Two hundred grams of
the powdered leaves were successively extracted
with different solvents and the extractive values
were calculated.
Preparation of the extracts
Ten grams of plant material were extracted
with distilled water for 6 h at slow heat. At an
interval of 2 h, it was filtered through eight layers
of muslin cloth and centrifuged at 5000g for 5
min. The supernatant was concentrated to one-fifth
of the original volume. The extract was autoclaved
and stored at 4C. This gave an aqueous extract of
the plant material. In order to obtain a methanol
extract, 10 g of plant material was extracted with
100 ml of methanol and kept overnight on a rotary
shaker. The extract was filtered and centrifuged at
5000g for 5 min. The filtrate was concentrated to
one-fifth of the original volume and stored at 4C.
Evaluation of antibacterial activity
The aqueous and methanol extracts of 15
Basha et al.,2011
028 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2011) 1: 027-031
plants were screened against a total of 4 bacterial
strains. The test organisms included the gram-
positive bacteria Bacillus cereus , Staphylococcus
aureus and gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella
pneumoniae , Escherichia coli were obtained from
the Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool, Andhra
Pradesh. The bacteria were grown in the nutrient
broth at 37C and maintained on nutrient agar slants
at 4C.
Preparation of inoculums
The aqueous and methanol extracts were
screened for potential antibacterial activity by agar
disc diffusion method( Bauer et al., 1966) with disc
size of 7 mm (HiMedia) and agar well diffusion
method(Perea et al., 1990) with cup borer of size
8.5 mm respectively. For all the bacterial strains,
overnight cultures grown in nutrient broth were
adjusted to an inoculum size of 10
8
cells/ml for
inoculation of the agar plates. An aliquot (0.2 ml) of
inoculum was added to the molten Mueller Hinton
agar No. 2 medium (HiMedia). For both the
methods, well and discs were introduced with 0.1
ml each of the aqueous and methanol extract.
Distilled water and methanol were taken as control.
Following an incubation period of 24 h at 37 C,
antibacterial activity was evaluated by quantifying
zone of inhibition of bacterial growth. (Mean of
three replicates was considered). The entire
microbial assay was carried out three times under
strict aseptic conditions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The result of screening is shown in the graph
[Fig-1&Fig-2].
The complete details of the plants screened
in this work are shown in [Table.1] A total of 15
extracts (aqueous and methanol) from 15 different
plant species belonging to 11 different families
were screened for potential antibacterial
activity [Fig-1&Fig-2]. All the extracts have
exhibited different degrees of antibacterial activity
against bacteria. Most of the extracts were more
active against gram-positive bacteria than gram-
negative bacteria, which is in agreement with
previous reports that plant extracts are more active
against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative
bacteria( Vlietinck et al., 1995, Rabe et al., 1997)..
Amongst aqueous and methanol extracts of the
studied plant species, methanol extracts were found
to be more active than the aqueous extracts except
for Piper nigrum L. Aqueous extracts of Abutilon
indicum L., Acorus calamus L., Ammania
baccifera L., Argyria nervosa Burm. F(except
k.pneumonia).,Holarrhena antidycenterica L( except
k.pneumonia). were totally inactive against all the
i nvest i gat ed mi cr oor ganisms[Fi g-1&Fi g-
2]. Amongst all the five investigated bacterial
strains, K. pneumoniae was the most sensitive
bacteria and E. coli was the most resistant bacteria.
The discovery of a potent remedy from plant
origin will be a great advancement in bacterial
infection therapies. The results of present
Basha et al.,2011
Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2011) 1: 027-031 029
Plant species Family com.name uses
Abutiolon indicum L Malvaceae Thuttura benda root for nervous disorders
Acorus calamus L. Araceae Vasa chronic diarrhoea,dysentry,fever
Ammannia baccifera L. Lythraceae Agnijawala snake bite, ringworm,skin diseases
Argyreia nervosa Burn.F Convolvulaceae Samudra pala wounds,skin diseases,rhematism
Bauhinia recemosa L. Caesalpinaceae Adavi avisa
dysentry,hepatoprotective,diarrhoea,malarial
fever
Biophytum sensitivum Oxalidaceae Jala puspa stomachic,astham
Bauhinai variegata L. Caesalpinaceae Madapku chettu Carminative, anthlmintic.diarrhoea
Cardiospermum halicabum Sapindaceae Budda kakara laxative, diuretic,rhematism
Cissampelos pareira menispermaceae Advibanka teega antiperidic, purgative stomachic
Crataeva religiosa Forst Capparidaceae Varuna chettu laxiative,diuretic,astringent
Holarrhena antidysenterica L. Apocynaceae Palbariki antidysentric, anthlmintic diarrhoea
Leucas aspera L Lamiaceae Thummi febrifuge, hepatoprotective, cough,cold
Piper nigrum L Piperaceae Miriyalu diarrohea, fever ,stomachic
Plumbego zeylanica L Plumbagenaceae Chitramulamu diarrohea, leprosy, laxative
Psoralea corylifolia L Leguminosae Bavanchalu laxative, leucoderma,rhematism
Table.1Ethnobotanical information of some traditionally used indian medicinal plant species selected for
antibacterial activity


investigation clearly indicates that the antibacterial
activity vary with the species of the plants and plant
material used. The study of ethnomedical systems
and herbal medicines as therapeutic agents of a
paramount importance in addressing health
problems of traditional communities and third
world countries as well as industrialized societies .
The results obtained from screening showed that the
folklore use of some of the plants is justified.
Cissampelos pareira exhibited remarkable
antibacterial activity amongst all the 12 plant
species, for which it can be selected for further
studies. The inhibition zone diameter was compared
with antibiotics drugs tetracycline as a standard
reference.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are thankful to Madam Azra Javeed
saheba Secretary and Correspondent of Osmania
college for their encouragement and permitting us
to carry on this exploration work. We are also
express our sincere thanks to the Forest Department
who helped us in tracing out the medicinal plants in
the forest.

REFERENCES
Srivastava J, Lambert J and Vietneyer N. 1996.
Medicinal Plants; an expanding
role in development World Bank Technical., 320.

Bhavnani SM and Ballow CH. 2000. Curr. Opin.
Microbiol., 3:528.

Basha et al.,2011
030 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2011) 1: 027-031
ANTIBACTRIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT
EXTRACTS AGAINST Bacillus cereus
FIGURES 1,2
ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT
EXTRACTS AGAINST Stapaphyloccus aureus
ANTIBACTRIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT
EXTRACTS AGAINST Klebsiella pnemoniae
ANTIBACTRIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT
EXTRACTS AGAINST E.coli
Janovska D, Kubikov K and Kokosk L.
2003. Czeck. J. Food Sci., 21, 107.

Sharma KK, Sangraula H and Mediratta
PK. 2002. Indian J. Pharmacol., 34, 390.

Adelakun EA, Finbar EA, Agina SE and
Makinde AA. 2001. Fitoterapia 72, 822.

Camporese A, Balik MJ, Arvigo R, Esposito RG,
Morsellino N, De Simone F and Tubaro A. 2003.
J. Ethnopharmacol., 87, 103.

Bonjar S. 2004. J. Ethanopharmacol., 94, 301.

Nair R, Kalariya T and Chanda S. 2005. Turk. J.
Biol., 29, 41

De Boer HJ, Kool A, Broberg A, Mziray WR,
Hedberg I and Levenfors JJ. 2005. J.
Ethnopharmacol., 96, 461.

Vijayakumar R and Pullaiah T. 1996. An ethno-
medico-botanical sutyd of Prakasam district,Andhra
Pradesh, India, Ethnobotany 8:71.

Jeevan Ram A and Venakta Raju RR. 2001.
Certain potential curde drugs used by tribals of
Nallamalais,Andhra Pradesh for skin diseaces,
Ethnobotany 13:110.

Bauer AW, Kirby WMM, Sherris JC and Turck
M. 1966. Amer. J. clin.Pathol., 45, 493.

Perez C, Paul M and Bazerque P. 1990. Acta.
Bio. Med. Exp., 15:113.

Vlietinck AJ, Van Hoof L, Totte J, Lasure A,
Vanden Berghe D, Rwangobo PC and
Mvukiyuniwami J. 1995. J. Ethnopharmacol., 46,
31.

Rabe T and Van Staden J. 1997. J.
Ethnopharmacol., 56, 8.
Basha et al.,2011
Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2011) 1: 027-031 031
Submit your articles online at www.plantsciences.info

Advantages
Easy online submission
Complete Peer review
Affordable Charges
Quick processing
Extensive indexing
You retain your copyright

submit@plantsciences.info

www.plantsciences.info/Submit.php.