Abstract

An antibiotic is an agent that can either kill or inhibit the growth of a microorganism. Antibiotics are key defence against disease causing microbes. Simultaneously pathogenic microbes develop resistance against antibiotics along with their side effects on target organisms. Plant-based chemical microbial compounds will be safer than synthetic chemical compounds. So finding new sources for antimicrobial activity is inevitable. Three plants in the southern parts of India, Ficus racemosa Linn., PassifloraedulisSims andMorus alba Linn were selected for the present study. The leaves, barks and fruits wereused for treating various ailments in folk remedies. In this study, ripe fruits of the selected plants were collected from Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala state. Ethanolic extracts of fruits of these plants were used to study their potency against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Streptococcus mutans,Staphylococcus aureusandEscherichia coli. The fruits of all the studied plantsshowed microbial growth inhibition at higher concentrations. Inhibitory action of the fruit extracts also varied. The study revealed that Morusalba extract is more effective against different microbes. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were also compared with standard antibiotics. A concentration of 100μl Morus alba extract inhibited growth of Ca by 1.2cm, Ec by 1.1cm and Sa by 1.3cm. P.edulis also inhibited growth of Ec by 1.2cm, Pa by 1.2cm, Sa by 1.0cm and Sm by 1.2cm at 50μl and the rate of inhibition is observed to be increasing with concentration. F.Racemosa inhibited the growth of Ec by 1.3cm, Pa by 0.5cm and Sm by 1.5cm at 100μl concentration. The studied plants can be used for developing antibiotics, since plant-based antibiotics will be a blessing for the society.

Keywords

ficus racemosa, passiflora edulis, morus alba, antimicrobial activity, zone of inhibition