PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF BARK AND POD EXTRACTS OF PROSOPIS CINERARIA (L.) DRUCE AGAINST ESCHERICHIA COLI

Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce, a leguminous desert tree of the family Fabaceae widely known as khejri, jand, or sangri, is used across the arid tracts of north-western India in traditional medicine. This study qualitatively screened the phytochemical constituents of bark and pod extracts of P. cineraria in petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and methanol, and evaluated the in vitro antibacterial activity of the same bark and pod extracts against Escherichia coli. Plant material was collected from the campus of Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, in March-April, shade-dried, powdered, and extracted by Soxhlet apparatus, with dry-weight extractive yield calculated for each solvent-part combination. Extracts were screened for alkaloids, carbohydrates, proteins, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, and starch using standard colour and precipitation reactions. The antibacterial activity was assessed by the agar well diffusion method across a concentration gradient (0.05-2 mg/mL), with ampicillin and DMSO as positive and negative controls. Petroleum ether extracts of bark and pods showed comparatively few positive phytochemical reactions, whereas ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts of bark and pods showed a broader positive profile, including alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannins, and flavonoids, consistent with methanol and ethyl acetate's greater capacity to solubilize both polar and non-polar metabolites than non-polar petroleum ether. Methanol also gave the highest dry-weight extractive yield in both tissues (7.5% for bark, 3.2% for pods), with bark yielding more extract by mass than pods in all three solvents. Bark extracts inhibited E. coli at markedly lower concentrations than pod extracts in both petroleum ether and ethyl acetate; the ethyl acetate bark extract was the most active preparation, producing a zone of inhibition of 32 mm at 1 mg/mL, approaching the ampicillin positive control (approximately 36 mm), while pod extracts in all three solvents required concentrations above 1.2-1.6 mg/mL before comparable inhibition was observed. These findings support the traditional use of P. cineraria bark in infection-related remedies and identify bark ethyl acetate extract as the most promising material for further bioassay-guided fractionation.
HEMANT CHOUDHARY
HEMANT KUMAR
SAPNA JAIN
Year
2026
Volume
Vol 1
Serial
6

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA GROWING ON HOST PLANTS AZARDIRACHTA INDICA, SARACA ASOCA, AND CITRUS LIMON.

To check the antimicrobial activity of Tinospora cardifolia (Giloy) growing on host plants Azadirachta indica (Neem), Saraca asoca (Ashoka), Citrus limon (lemon), on common endodontic pathogens like Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptomyces, Enterococcus faecalis, and Listeria. The agar diffusion test was used to check the antimicrobial activity of the Methanolic extracts of the medicinal plants with different concentrations. The values of the Zone of Inhibition were tabulated according to the concentration. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) values were also recorded. Extracts of all the Tinospora cordifolia growing on host plants showed considerable antimicrobial activity against selected pathogens. At a minimum 50mg/ml conc. all hosted and normal giloy shows zone of inhibition like- against E. coli.- Saraca asoca, against Enterococcus- Citrus limon (Azadirachta indica also), against Listeria- Azadirachta indica, against Streptomyces -Azadirachta indica, against Salmonella- Azadirachta indica (Saraca asoca), and S.aureus- Azadirachta indica (Saraca asoca and Citrus limon also, but less than (Azadirachta indica) shows maximum zone of inhibition. The Methanolic extract of Tinospora cardifolia (Giloy) grows on host plants Azadirachta indica (Neem), Saraca asoca (Ashoka), Citrus limon (lemon), and normal giloy has considerable antimicrobial activity against E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptomyces, Enterococcus faecalis, and Listeria.
NIDHI YADAV
SUMER SINGH
ANIL CHAHAR
Year
2025
Volume
Vol 2
Serial
7

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT EXTRACTS OF VARIOUS PARTS OF PEDILIUM MUREX.

This current study investigates the antibacterial properties of extracts from different parts of the plant Pedilium murex, focusing on their efficacy against several bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. With increase in number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, the current study sought to investigate alternative sources of antimicrobial agents in the form of plant-derived compounds. The study begins with preparation of extracts from the leaves, stems, and flowers of Pedilium murex using different solvents—distilled water, methanol, chloroform, and petroleum ether—at a concentration of 100 μg/l. The results of the study showed that leaf extracts were particularly potent in controlling the bacterial infection by Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus, especially when chloroform or petroleum ether was used as a solvent. However, in contrast to this, the stem and flower extracts showed minimal antibacterial activity against the tested bacterial strains. Notably, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found to be resistant to all the extracts, highlighting the challenges in treatment of infections by this pathogen. The current study underscores the importance of solvent choice in extraction of bioactive compounds as well as their varying efficacy against specific bacteria. Overall, Pedilium murex has been shown to be a promising natural source of antibacterial agents, especially for combating infections caused by E. coli, S. aureus, and Bacillus. The findings of the current study will contribute to deeper understanding of plant based antimicrobial agents while also highlighting their potential role in overcoming the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
Manisha Sharma
Lokesh Chandra
Year
2024
Volume
Vol 2
Serial
12

CHARACTERIZATION OF PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF GREWIA ASIATICA L. LEAF EXTRACT

Grewia asiatica L. is a medicinal plant, used for various health benefits and disease treatment. The leaves of the plant has been widely used due to its potential antimicrobial and anti-irritant properties The current research focuses on investigating the phytochemical composition of the methanolic extract of G. asiatica L. leaves using GC-MS. The methanolic extract of leaves were also analyzed for its antibacterial potential against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and potential antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Fusarium solani using well diffusion assay. The chemical composition of leaf extract revealed presence of total 44 compounds namely n-Hexadecanoic acid, Octadecanoic acid, 2,3-dihydro-Benzofuran and Heneicosane. Leaf extract has shown potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (IZ=16±1.88mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15±2.23mm), Fusarium solani (16±0.35mm) and Aspergillus niger (13±0.34mm). The conducted research and the results observed has expanded the presence of significant antimicrobial potential in the methanolic leaf extract Grewia asiatica L., that further substantiate the use of the tested leaf extract as an effective source of natural antimicrobial compound drug and its commercial application.
KIRAN KHANGAROT
ASHMITA MISHRA
RICHA BHARDWAJ
RAM AVATAR SHARMA
Year
2024
Volume
Vol 2
Serial
9

ANTIBACTERIAL ANALYSIS OF CAPPARIS DECIDUA

Present study was carried out to analyze antibacterial activity of different parts of Capparis decidua, for this root, stem, fruits and whole plant were collected and extracted with different solvents such as water, alcohol and petroleum ether, antibacterial activity of these extracts were determined by disc diffusion method against E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, during this work maximum antibacterial activity against E. coli was reported in two extracts (i) Capparis whole plant with Micellar media-petroleum ether-alcohol extract (ii) Capparis root with water extract, and against Staphylococcus aureus maximum antibacterial activity was reported in Capparis stem extract with water-petroleum ether-alcohol extract, and Capparis root with micellar media extract have maximum antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis.
SEEMA VYAS
MOOL CHAND MALI
NARENDAR BHOJAK
Year
2020
Volume
Vol 2
Serial
7