Shandesh Bhattarai, Om Basukala
ABSTRACT
The present studies cover antibacterial activity of 15 crude extracts (5 extracts each from hexane, dichloromethane and methanol) from five ethnomedicinal plants viz. Anaphalis nepalensis, Piptanthus nepalensis, Senecio raphanifolius, Thermopsis barbata and Thermopsis inflate collected from Sagarmatha region of Nepal against one Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and three Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aureginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia) bacterial strains. Plants used to treat at least one ailment considered to be caused by bacterial infection were identified and further investigated for their antibacterial activity. Crude extracts were obtained by the successive extraction method and examined in-vitro using the agar well diffusion process. Among 15 extracts examined, 13 (86 %) extracts showed antibacterial property against Staphylococcus aureus followed by 8 (53 %) extracts against Escherichia coli and 6 (40 %) extracts each against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia. Plant extracts were more likely to inhibit Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus. With respect to Gram-negative bacteria, it was more common for plant extracts to inhibit Escherichia coli than Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Klebsiella pneumonia. Overall, 86 % of plant extracts showed activity against Gram-positive test bacteria, and 45 % showed activity against Gram-negative test bacteria. This research results will promote to search for alternative, inexpensive and simply available antibacterial of plant origin.
Keywords: Antibacterial property, medicinal plants, traditional use, Nepal