Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Plant Extracts of Enicostemma hyssopifolium

Enicostemma hyssopifolium, a useful medicinal herb was subjected to antimicrobial as well as phytochemical investigations. The petroleum ether, chloroform, n-Butanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of the whole plant of Enicostemma hyssopifolium were studied for in vitro antimicrobial activity against Human pathogenic microorganisms. The antimicrobial potential of Enicostemma hyssopifolium against human pathogenic microorganisms was investigated. Their isolated phytoconstituents were evaluated for their antimicrobial potential. Antimicrobial activity of various plants extracts was compared with commercially available antibiotics. The antimicrobial potential of the above plant extracts was seen against the test organism using agar gel diffusion susceptibility test by standard technique of Opara and Anasa(1993)(9). The resulting zones of inhibition were measured in mm. The MIC (Minimum inhibitory concentration), MBC (Minimum Bactericidal Concentration) and MFC (Minimum Fungicidal Concentration) of the plant extracts was determined according to the Micro broth dilution technique (Murray et.al.1999)(7). Phytochemical estimation was carried out according to the methods described by Trease and Evans (1989)(17). Among all solvents used ethanol extract gave the highest zone of inhibition. With Escherichia coli, zone of inhibition was 20.0mm, with Coagulase (+) Staphylococci it was 27.3 mm., with Coagulase (-) Staphylococci 26.6 mm., with Pseudomonas aeruginosa 25.0 mm., with Enterococcus sp. 23.6 mm., with Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis it was 22.0 mm and 20.5 mm respectively. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of various phytoconstituents.