Preliminary phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of aerial parts of Stachytarpheta indica L. (Vahl.) Princely S.1, Basha N. Saleem2, Kirubakaran J. John1, Dhanaraju M.D.1 1Research Lab, Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, GIET School of Pharmacy, Rajahmundry- 533296, Andhra Pradesh 2Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Asmara College of Health Sciences, Asmara, Eritrea, NE Africa Online published on 26 June, 2013. Abstract Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Stachytarpheta indica aerial parts was assessed. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, steroids, tannins, carbohydrates, and saponins. The antimicrobial properties of both the aqueous and ethanolic extracts were studied against clinical strains of six human pathogenic bacteria: two gram (+), viz Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis and four gram (−) viz Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two fungi one yeast (Candida albicans) and one mold (Aspergillus niger) using disc diffusion method. The alcoholic extract showed significant activity against all the species of bacteria which is comparable with standard antibiotic streptomycin. The MIC values observed were 6.25 μg/ml (for aqueous extract) and 3.125 μg/ml (for ethanolic extract). These results support the use in folk medicine. Top Keywords Stachytarpheta indica, phytochemical screening, disc diffusion, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration. Top |