Antibacterial activity of two medicinal plants: Withania somnifera and Curcuma longa

In vitro aqueous and ethanol extracts of Withania somnifera (leaves and fruits) and Curcuma Longa were evaluated for antibacterial activities against Basillus subtillis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and S.epidermitis. The inorganic extract of W. somnifera leaves showed more antibacterial activity as compared to the organic fraction. While both the organic and inorganic phases of fruit extract of W. somnifera showed antibacterial activity against all the tested microorganisms. S.epidermitis and B.subtillis were inhibited by 1Department of Microbiology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 2Department of Microbiology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 3Department of Microbiology, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan 4Department of Pharmacognosy, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan 5Department of Biochemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan 6Department of Microbiology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 7Department of Microbiology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Qaiser Jamal, Shahzad Munir, Sikandar Khan Sherwani, Mohammad Sualeh, Uzma Jabeen, Muhammad Saqib Malik and Mubashir Hussain – Antibacterial activity of two medicinal plants: Withania somnifera and Curcuma longa EUROPEAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH, VOL. I, ISSUE 6/ SEPTEMBER 2013 1336 inorganic fraction of fruit extract. Organic fraction of Curcuma Longa showed antibacterial activity, while there was no activity of inorganic fraction of this medicinal plant. Gentamicin showed lesser activity as compared to inorganic fraction of fruit extract of W.somnifera against all the tested microorganisms. Therefore, these plants may be used to investigate the active components of the different fractions as an important future prospective.