ANTIMICROBIAL ANALYSIS OF OLAX IMBRICATA ROXB. (OLACACEAE)

Antibacterial ,Antifungal activity ,Agar Disc diffusion ,Well diffusion Method ,

Olax imbricata is a much used species in traditional medicine. The bark and roots of Olax are useful in treating diarrhea, ulcer and inflammatory ailments. Leaves act against whooping cough and promote wound healing. Leaf extracts of Ethanol, Petroleum ether and Dichloromethane were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activity by using Agar Disc diffusion and Well diffusion Method. Gram positive bacteria of the ethanolic leaf extract of 1000 µg and 500 µg had potent inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus (19mm), Streptococcus faecalis (18mm), and gram negative bacteria had also wider range of inhibition against Vibrio cholerae (17mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (16mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (15mm), and Proteus vulgaris (15mm) respectively. The concentrations of 500 µg and 250µg showed minimum inhibition when compared to standard antibiotics. The aqueous extract showed maximum inhibition against all the test bacteria at the increased level of concentration at 1000 µg. Methanolic and ethanol extracts of leaves showed high antibacterial and antifungal activit y against all the tested microorganisms. It is evident that the methanolic extract is active against both Gram negative but more active against Gram positive at low concentrations.

4 , 4 , 2014