Research Article Open Access

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Potential of Stems of Cissus quadrangularis (Linn) Using Two Gram Positive and Negative Bacteria

Abstract

Since prehistoric times plants have served human beings as a natural source of treatments and therapies, amongst them attention on medicinal herbs have grown because of their wide use and less side effects. In present times thrust on plant research has increased exponentially throughout the world and increasing amount of evidences are being collected and documented to show the immense potential of medicinal plants employed in various traditional systems, which is reflected from the fact that more than 15000 plants have been studied during the last 5-year period. The fact that most efficient drugs available are directly or indirectly derived from the plant kingdom has instigated scientists recently to focus their full attention on using these renewable resources to harvest new generation of therapeutic solutions. The frugal and pragmatic nature of production of plant-based pharmaceuticals has also attracted more capital investment in the research and development of new plant consequential therapeutics, giving patients access to new drugs faster. This review highlights some of the phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of various species of the Cissus family (Vitaceae) found throughout the world. It is a fleshy, cactus-like climbing plant, commonly found in tropical and subtropical xeric woods and extensively used as a food item in India. Folk literature suggests that the plant has a plethora of therapeutic uses in ameliorating pathological states of helminthiasis, anorexia, dyspepsia, colic, flatulence, skin diseases, leprosy, hemorrhage, epilepsy, convulsion, haemoptysis, tumors, chronic ulcers and swellings amongst others. The present study is an attempt to explore antimicrobial activity of stems of Cissus quadrangularis (Linn) using different microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) by disc diffusion methods. The result shows that out of all extracts tested, methanol extracts were effective against all the four microorganisms when compared to standard 20 μg /disc ampicillin.

Rahul Shukla, Anup Pathak, S Kambuja, Sandeep Sachan, Ashutosh Mishra, Saikat Sarkar and Devdutt Chaturvedi

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