Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of seed extracts of Annona squamosa L. and Azadirachta indica

Abstract

Annona squamosa L., and Azadirachta indica belongs to the family Annonaceae and Meliaceae commonly known as custard apple and neem respectively. A comparative antimicrobial activity of extracts of A. squamosa and A. indica were evaluated against five fungal culture arranged from the laboratory of CSIR-MTCC Chandigarh, India namely Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Curvularia lunata, Penicillium sp. and Cladosporium cladosporides using agar well diffusion method. Maximum inhibition was found with 40 mg/ml concentration of seed extracts against all the tested organisms under investigation. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were measured through disk diffusion method. The study suggests that the seed cotyledon of the said medicinal plants are promising in the development of phytomedicine for antifungal properties. This study also suggested that the seed of Azadirachta indica is more effective as a fungicide than Annona squamosa L.