Phytochemicals screening and antimicrobial efficacy of Scoparia dulcis Linn (Scrophulariaceae) against clinical isolates

Abstract

Herbal plants represent a reservoir of therapeutic agents and with the increase prevalence of multiple drug resistance strain against existing synthetic antibiotics there is a necessity for an alternative cure. In recent years, secondary plant metabolites with previously unknown pharmacological activities have gained importance and often studied for its therapeutic efficacy. Phytochemicals screening of Scoparia dulcis extracts reveals the presents of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, tannins and saponins. The antimicrobial activity of the plant were tested by broth dilution method ranging from 8mg/mL to 256mg/mL and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined when there is positive or negative growth of the tested microorganism on the nutrient agar plates. In this particular study methanol extract displayed a better MIC when compared to aqueous against both gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungus and this could have attributed to its potent extraction capacity. Thus, justifying its efficacy as a potential broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.