Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Efficacy of Some Medicinal Plants Against Food Borne Pathogens

The medicinal plants are used in traditional treatments to cure variety of diseases for thousands of year. The aim of this study was to identify such plants with antimicrobial and antioxidant efficacy for controlling some food borne pathogens. The locally available plants viz., Ficus religiosa, Leucas aspera, Holarrhena antidysenterica and Psidium guajavai were selected for the study. Various methods were tried to standardize the extraction of antimicrobial agents. Methanol extraction of P. guajava showed high antimicrobial activity against the food borne pathogens like S. typi, Pseudomonas spp and B. Subtilis. Whereas in case of antifungal H. antidysenterica showed more activity with maximum of 23mm inhibition zone against Aspergillus spp. The high antioxidant activity of 36ìg/100mg was observed in Psidium guajava. The GC-MS study also revealed the various phytic components for H. antidysenterica, which assured that it has high antimicrobial, anticancer activity against the food borne pathogens. It was concluded that plant extract can be used as a preservatives against the food borne pathogens.