Assessment of antimicrobial properties of Terminalia chebula (fruit) against cariogenic organisms

The present study was designated to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of various solvent extracts from fruits of Terminalia chebula. The preliminary antimicrobial activities of the extracts against cariogenic organisms were tested by using disc diffusion assay. The methanolic extract showed higher antimicrobial activity against all the cariogenic organisms tested. Based on this finding, the methanolic fruit extract of T. chebula was assessed for antimicrobial activities by disc diffusion, broth dilution and biofilm inhibition methods. The highest activity was at 400μg/ml of methanolic extract with a mean diameter of inhibition zone being 29.5mm and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ≤0.17mg/ml against S. mutans MTCC 497. The anti-adherence activities of methanolic fruit extract towards the cariogenic organisms were different between the organisms. The maximum percentage of inhibition (88%) was observed for S. mutans MTCC 497 and minimum percentage of (17.2%) inhibition was noticed for S. cerevisiae MTCC 170. The results indicated that the methanolic fruit extract of T. chebula posses antimicrobial properties and so it can be used as a potential source of antimicrobial agents.