ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL EVALUATION OF RHIZOME EXTRACTS OF BERGINIA CILIATA (HAW.) STERNB

Abstract

Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. was collected in the vicinity of Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. The fresh roots of plant were air-dried and chopped. This material was extracted with hexane, chloroform, methanol and sterile distilled water. The organic as well as aqueous extracts were tested for antimicrobial activity using the disc diffusion technique against 8 animal and plant pathogenic bacteria i.e. Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcμus aureus, Esherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Erwinia chrysanthimi, Xanthomonas phaseoli, Agerobacteriaum tumefaciens and Xanthomonas campestris. Chloroform, methanol and aqueous fractions of B. ciliata showed activity against all tested bacteria. P. vulgaris was found to be most sensitive to the tested extracts. A weak antibacterial activity was
demonstrated by hexane fraction. In majority of tests, the extracts of B. ciliata were found more effective than ampicillin (10μg) and erythromycin (15μg).