African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (10), pp. 946-950, 16 May 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Antimicrobial activity of Rauvolfia tetraphylla and Physalis minima leaf and callus extracts

Nayeemulla Shariff¹, M. S. Sudarshana¹, S. Umesha²* and P. Hariprasad²

¹Department of Botany, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, Karnataka, India.

²Department of Applied Botany and Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, Karnataka, India.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: su@appbot.uni-mysore.ac.in, pmumesh@yahoo.com. Tel: + 91 821 2419884 (O); 2413774 (R).

Accepted 21 march, 2006

Abstract

The in vitro antimicrobial activity of Rauvolfia tetraphylla and Physalis minima leaf and callus extracts were studied against selected pathogenic fungi and bacteria, following broth dilution assay.  Leaves and calli were extracted using absolute alcohol, benzene, chloroform, methanol and petroleum ether. Among the five solvents used, leaf and callus extracted in chloroform of both the plants were found to be more effective against pathogenic bacteria and fungi, where the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged between 0.25 to 6 mg/ml.  Absolute alcohol extracts showed MIC of 0.25 to 4 mg/ml for bacteria, whereas for fungi it ranged from 0.25 to 100 mg/ml.  Extracts of benzene and petroleum ether were ineffective in inhibiting the bacterial and fungal growth or showed poor inhibition.  Methanol extract showed MIC of 0.25 to 100 mg/ml against bacterial pathogens and 0.5 to 100 mg/ml against fungal pathogens. The antimicrobial activities of these two indigenous medicinal plants were discussed in the present paper.

Key words: Rauvolfia tetraphylla, Physalis minima, leaf, callus, extract, antimicrobial assay.