Antibacterial activity of leaf extracts of Biophytum sensitivum (L.) DC

Biophytum sensitivum (L.) DC. (Oxalidaceae) is an ethnomedicinal plant used in folklore medicine. The main aim of this study demonstrates that the leaves extracts of B. sensitivum (methanol, chloroform, acetone, and petroleum ether) was evaluated for its antibacterial activity against several human pathogenic bacterial strains (Bacillus subtillis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumonia, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella typhi, Proteus vulgaris and Escherichia coli) by agar well diffusion method. All the extracts showed various levels of activity on different test organisms and their activity is quite comparable with the standard antibiotics. The acetone extracts showed remarkable antibacterial activity. This study fortifies that methanol and chloroform extracts found to be better antibacterial activity against all the test organisms than petroleum ether extract. The results from these investigations encourage that the plant extracts may be used as anti-infective agents.