Anupama Priadarshini, Pranay Punj Pankaj, M C Varma K Kumar
The efficacy of petroleum ether and chloroform leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica and Moringa oleifera were studied against Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus subtilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae for varying concentration of extracts of 200mg/ml, 150mg/ml, 100mg/ml, 50mg/ml and 25mg/ml, using disc diffusion method. It was compared with gentamycin 150mg/ml as standard. The petroleum ether extract showed maximum and equal inhibition on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis, followed by Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli in a descending order in both the extracts. Salmonella typhimurium was found to be resistant to petroleum ether extract of both plants. The chloroform extract showed maximum inhibition on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris and equal zone of inhibition was shown by Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella typhimurium where as minimum zone of inhibition was recorded in Escherichia coli. Overall chloroform leaf extract exhibited better antimicrobial potential against pathogens. Results indicate the potential of these plants for further work on isolation and characterization of the active principle responsible for antibacterial activity and its exploitation as therapeutic agent
