IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF LEAF, SEED, ROOT, POD AND FLOWER EXTRACTS OF CAJANUS CAJAN (L.) MILLSP

摘要

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of leaf, seed, root, pod and flower extracts of C. cajan with various solvents such as aqueous, acetone, chloroform, ethanol and methanol. Methods: C. cajan was evaluated against certain pathogenic species of gram negative and gram positive bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli ) by agar well diffusion method. Results: It was observed that the methanolic and ethanolic extracts had shown potent antibacterial activity against gram +ve and gram -ve bacterial species. Among the five solvents used, methanolic extracts showed higher activity against S. aureus (ZI of leaf, 25.5±0.08 mm; seed, 22.6±0.01 mm; root, 22.1±0.09 mm; pod, 20.8±0.14 mm and flower, 21.9±0.05 mm). Whereas ethanolic extracts showed higher activity against E. coli of all the solvent extracts used in C. cajan (ZI of leaf, 25.1±0.05 mm; seed, 22.4±0.12 mm; root, 21.9±0.04 mm; pod, 20.7±0.12 mm and flower, 21.5±0.10 mm). The minimum inhibitory concentration of methanolic and ethanolic leaf, seed, root, pod and flower extracts respectively was determined to be ranging between 0.38 and 0.512mg/mL for both the bacterial species. Conclusion: The results of this study support that the crop species C. cajan had potential antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli and these extracts may be used for production of drugs commercially to treat diseases caused by the respective pathogens. Keywords: Cajanus cajan , Phytochemicals, Staphylococcus auereus, Escherichia coli, Antibacterial activity.