Antimicrobial activity of the roots of Ichnocarpus frutescens

Abstract

A large number of medicinal plants are claimed to be of great value in treating skin diseases in all traditional systems of medicine.. The present study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the ethanolic extract of roots of Ichnocarpus frutescens. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was tested against five bacterial and two fungal strains by disc diffusion method. Broad spectrum activity was seen against both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimrium). Among all the bacterial strains, Bacillus subtilis showed the lowest MIC values (62.5μg/ml). The antifungal study revealed a significant effect against Candida albicans and no antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger.