Comparative Study of Antibacterial Activity and Toxicity of Certain Plants used in Unani Medicine

In the present work we evaluated the antibacterial activity of Indian plants used in the Unani system of medicine against the pathogenic bacteria. The aqueous extracts of Tinospora cordifolia (stem), Sisymbrion irio (seeds), Viola odorata (flowers), Glycerrhiza glabra (roots and stolon) and Peristrophe bicalculata (whole plant) showed strong antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli which is comparable to standard antibiotic Tetracycline. The aqueous extracts of these plants were also tested for their toxicity against human erythrocytes. These plant extracts were found to manifest the cellular toxicity to erythrocytes comparable to Tetracycline. The results reveal that the use of aqueous extracts of these plants may be effective in providing an alternative and effective method to eliminate the pathogens without producing much toxicity compared to the present antibiotics.