International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

ISSN: 2229-3701

___________________________________________________________Research Paper

Antimicrobial Activities of Musa paradisiaca and Cocos nucifera

R. V. Karadi1, Arpan Shah*, Pranav Parekh2 and Parvez Azmi3
1Department

of Pharmacognosy, K.L.E.Ss University, Hubli, Karnataka, India

*Baroda College of Pharmacy, Limda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

2JSPMs

Jaywantrao Sawant College of Pharmacy & Research, Pune, Maharashtra, India

3Dhanvanthari

college of pharmaceutical science, Tirumala hills, Mahbubnagar, A. P., India

___________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
The present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro antimicrobial effect of crude extract of locally available
plants, Musa paradisiaca and Cocos nucifera on bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus
subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungi (Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Aspergillus niger). The agar
disc diffusion method was used to determine the inhibitory effect of both the test plants. Both the plants
extract showed inhibitory effect on test organisms. The extract of Musa paradisiaca produced wider zones of
inhibition against Candida spp. than the crude extract of Cocos nucifera. The minimum inhibitory
concentration was also evaluated for the extracts
Key Words: Antimicrobial activity, Musa paradisiaca, Cocos nucifera, Minimum inhibitory concentration
INTRODUCTION
Even though pharmacological industries have
produced a number of new antibiotics in the last
three decades, resistance to these drugs by
microorganisms has increased. The problem of
microbial resistance is growing and the outlook for
the use of antimicrobial drugs in the future is still
uncertain. Therefore, actions must be taken to
reduce this problem, for example, to control the use
of antibiotic, develop research to better understand
the genetic mechanisms of resistance, and to
continue studies to develop new drugs, either
synthetic or natural. The ultimate goal is to offer
appropriate and efficient antimicrobial drugs to the
patient.
For a long period of time, plants have been a
valuable source of natural products for maintaining
human health, especially in the last decade, with
more intensive studies for natural therapies. About
80% of individuals from developed countries use
traditional medicine, which has compounds derived
from medicinal plants. Therefore, such plants
should be investigated to better understand their
properties, safety and efficiency1. The use of plant
extracts and phytochemicals, both with known
antimicrobial properties, can be of great
________________________________________
*Address for correspondence:
E-mail: arpan84shah@yahoo.co.in

Vol. 2 (1) Jan Mar 2011

significance in therapeutic treatments. In the last

few years, a number of studies have been
conducted in different countries to prove such
efficiency2,3. Many plants have been used because
of their antimicrobial traits, which are due to
compounds synthesized in the secondary
metabolism of the plant. These products are known
by their active substances, for example, the
phenolic compounds which are part of the essential
oils4 as well as in tannin5.
The present study included the plant species
used in folk medicines, which were selected due to
lack of scientific data especially on antimicrobial
activities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant materials
Fresh plant material consisted, roots of Cocos
nucifera and fruit peels of Musa paradisiaca was
collected from the local areas mentioned in Table
1. Authentication was performed by Dr G.R.Hegde
at Botany Department, Dharwad University,
Karnataka. Plant materials were cleaned with
demonized water and dried at room temperature
under shade. It was ground to obtain coarse powder
(# 30) using an electric grinder.

www.ijrpbsonline.com

264

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

Extraction procedure
Grounded plant materials (40 gm) were
extracted
in
soxhlet
apparatus
with
dichloromethane and methanol (1:1) at 70oC till
exhaustion. Solvent was recovered; extracts were
concentrated and allowed to dry at room
temperature.
Test Organisms
Cultures of the microorganism, used in these
studies were obtained from Department of
Biotechnology, K.L.E.Ss College of Pharmacy
are: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,
Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, and
Aspergillus niger. Stock cultures of Bacteria and
fungi were maintained on Nutrient agar and Potato
Dextrose Agar slants, respectively. All cultures
were subcultured monthly and subsequently stored
at 40C.
Antimicrobial activity
It was performed by agar diffusion method
using a paper disc. Nutrient agar (purchased from
Hi- Media) and sabourauds dextrose agar
(purchased from Hi- Media) was used for bacterial
and fungal strains respectively. The sterilized
(autoclaved at 1210C for 20 mins) medium (40500C) was inoculated (1ml/100ml of medium) with
the suspension of microorganism. The paper discs
impregnated with extracts (10, 30, 50 and 100
g/ml in dimethyl sulphoxide) was placed on the
solidified medium. The plates were preincubated
for 1 hr at room temperature and then incubated at
370C for 24 and 300C at 48 hrs for antibacterial and
antifungal activities respectively. Cephalexin (30
g/disc, purchased from Hi-media and Fluconazole
(10 g/disc, marketed product of cipla was used
i.e.Fluka tablet) was used as standard for
antibacterial and antifungal activity respectively.
Minimum inhibitory concentration
The MIC was determined by the micro dilution
method using liquid nutrient media with different
aliquots of the test materials. 10 ml of sterilized
double strength nutrient media was poured into
sterilized test tube. From the stock solution (100
g/ ml in DMSO) different concentrations of
extracts were added to double strength nutrient
media, to all tubes and 0.1 ml of bacterial
suspension was added and tube were incubated at
required temperature. The growth was observed for
turbidity and inhibition was determined by absence
of growth. MIC was determined by the lowest
concentration of sample that inhibits the
development of turbidity.

Vol. 2 (1) Jan Mar 2011

ISSN: 2229-3701

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The ethnobotanical data including botanical
name, local name, location and part used of
selected plant species are summarized in Table 1.
Both the plants are traditionally used in the
treatment of Ulcer, Skin diseases, Toothache,
Typhoid, Scabies etc. The extractive yield of Musa
paradisiaca and Cocos nucifera was 11.5% w/w
and 8.9 % w/w of dry plants respectively.
Antimicrobial activities were performed by agar
diffusion method using a paper disc, where an
average of three independent determination was
recorded [Table 2]. Both the plants crude extract
exhibited antibacterial activity against all bacterial
strains and antifungal activity against all the fungal
strains tested.
Both plant extracts produced outstanding
antibacterial activity against Gram positive with the
greater zone of inhibition than the gram negative
bacteria. Considering in this study the Gram
positive bacteria are more susceptible than Gram
negatives.
Result showed that Musa paradisiaca had
potential inhibitory action against fungal strains
than bacterial strains tested and it also showed
strong antifungal properties than Cocos nucifera
and Fluconazole (the standard antifungal drug
used), as it shown greater zone of inhibition against
Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and
Aspergillus niger .The result is similar to that
reported by K. Muthutheyaru6 whose showed
methanol extracts of Musa paradisiaca
had
significant activity in comparison with the
standards benzyl penicillin and streptomycin.
In contrast to the result of Musa paradisiaca,
Cocos nucifera had potential antibacterial activity
as it shown larger zone of inhibition against
bacterial strains than the fungal strains used.
The lowest concentration of the plant extract
required for inhibiting the growth was considered
as the MIC of the extracts against bacterial and
fungal strains. The MIC values of each extract
against the tested microorganisms were presented
in Table 3. It was found form the data obtained that
extract of Musa paradisiaca, required relatively
lesser quantity for arresting the growth of tested
organisms.
CONCLUSION
The results of present study indices that both
plant extracts showed antibacterial as well as
antifungal activity against tested organisms. We
found that Gram positive bacteria are more
susceptible than Gram negative bacteria. Among
the two crud extracts, Musa paradisiaca showed
greater antifungal activity than Cocos nucifera.
From the MIC valued we can concluded that
extract of Musa paradisiaca, required relatively
lesser quantity for arresting the growth of tested
organisms.

www.ijrpbsonline.com

265

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

ISSN: 2229-3701

Table 1: Ethnobotanical date for Musa paradisiaca and Cocus nucifera

Botanical name

Family

Local name

Part of plant used

Areas of collection

Fruit Peel

Belgaum

Musa paradisiaca

Musaceae

Balle hannu

Cocus nucifera

Arecaceae

Thenginakai

Roots

Sambra (Belgaum)

Table 2: Antimicrobial activities of Musa paradisiaca and Cocos nucifera

Zone of inhibition (mm)
Bacterial strains
Plant
materials

Musa
paradisia
ca

Cocos
nucifera

Std

Conc.
(g/ml)

Fungal strain

B. subtilis

S. aureus

E. coli

P. aeruginosa

C. albicans

C .tropicalis

A. niger

10

12.2 0.1

11 0.1

9.5 0.2

13 0.4

12.5 0.1

10.4 0.1

30

16 0.5

12 0.3

10.8 0.4

11.2 0.2

15.7 0.2

16 0.5

13.2 0.5

50

17

15.4 0.2

13

14.1 0.3

17.2 0.3

17.8 0.6

15.7 0.3

100

21 0.1

18

17.9 0.1

18

24 0.3

23

22.3 0.1

10

8.5 0.7

9 0.3

10 0.2

8.5 0.6

7.4 0.1

30

11.1 0.3

10

13 0.3

10

10.2 0.3

9.1 0.3

50

15.9 0.2

14.1 0.1

14.1 0.3

11.4 0.4

13 0.7

11.9 0.1

12.4 0.2

100

20. 0.1

19.3 0.4

16.3 0.5

15.7 0.1

16.8 0.2

15

17 0.6

25

21

17 0.1

17.6 0.4

23

21

22 0.5

Cephalexin and Fluconazole was used as standard for antibacterial and antifungal activity respectively.
Each zone of inhibition is an average of three independent determination and solvent (DMSO) did not show any inhibition.

Table 3: MIC values for Musa paradisiaca and Cocos nucifera

MIC values ( L)
Microorganism
Musa paradisiaca

Cocos nucifera

B. subtilis

55

75

S. aureus

65

80

E. coli

85

60

P. aeruginosa

75

65

C. albicans

50

65

C .tropicalis

50

70

A. niger

55

60

Vol. 2 (1) Jan Mar 2011

www.ijrpbsonline.com

266

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

REFERENCES
1. Ellof JN. Which extractant should be
used for the screening and isolation of
antimicrobial components from plants. J
Ethnopharmacol. 1998;60:1-6.
2. Kubo L, Muroi H and Himejima M,
Structure-antibacterial
activity
relationships of anacardic acids. J Agri
Food Chem. 1993;41:1016-1019.
3. Shapoval EES, Silveira SM, Miranda
ML, Alice CB and Henriques AT.
Evaluation of some pharmacological
activities of Eugenia uniflora. J
Ethnopharmacol. 1994;44:136-142.
4. Jansen AM, Cheffer JJC and Svendsen
AB. Antimicrobial activity of essencial
oils: a 1976-1986 literature review.

Vol. 2 (1) Jan Mar 2011

ISSN: 2229-3701

Aspects of test methods. Planta Med.

1987;40:395-398.
5. Saxena G, McCutcheon AR, Farmer S,
Towers GHN and Hancock REW.
Antimicrobial constituents of Rhus
glabra. J Ethnopharmacol. 1994;42:9599.
6. Mangathayaru K, Umeshankar G,
Muralitharan G, Cordairayen E and
Vasantha. J Antimicrobial activity of
some indigenous plants. Ind J Pharm Sci.
2004;1(66):123-125.
7. Ogbolu DO, Oni AA, Daini OA and
Oloko AP. In vitro antimicrobial
properties of coconut oil on Candida
species in Ibadan, Nigeria. J Med Food.
2007;10(2):384-387.

www.ijrpbsonline.com

267