Antibacterial activity of Jatropha curcas extract against Pseudomonas fluorescence and Xanthomonas auxinopodis P.V. citri)

Abstract

Plants are considered to be the oldest source of pharmacologically active compounds, and have provided humankind with many medically useful compounds. In the present investigation, the antibacterial activity of methanolic extracts of Jatropha curcas was investigated using agar well diffusion method against two bacteria entitled Pseudomonas fluorescence and Xanthomonas auxinopodis P. V. citri. The antibacterial activity was measured by diameter zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The extracts exhibited broad spectrum antibacterial activities against the microorganisms. The extracts of seed, seed coat, root, leaves and bark were used at different concentrations at 1%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 15%. Amongst all the crude methanolic root extract with 5% concentration found to be the best extractant. The root extract showed (15mm and 14.8mm) maximum zone of inhibition at 5% concentration against Pseudomonas fluroscence and Xanthomonas auxinopodis P.V. citri respectively. The result of this study indicates that this plant contains compounds with antibacterial activity which validates their use for treatment of various microbial infections in traditional medicine. The findings provide the basis for further study on the plants with aim of isolating and identifying the active substances.