Phytochemical Screening and in Vitro Antimicrobial Investigation of the Methanolic Extract of Centella Asiatica Leaves

The methanol extract of Centella asiatica (Family:Umbelliferae) was studied for its phytochemical and pharmacological Activities. This study of the extracts indicates the presence of Reducing Sugar Tannins, Alkaloids, Sapponins and.The pharmacological study include Antimicrobial activities.The extract of the plant showed activity against a wide a variety of microorganism’s .All the activities were compared by measuring the zone of inhibition with the standard antibiotic. Based on the findings of Antimicrobial activity, we can say that the plant may contain novel compounds that possess potent anti-mutagenic activity and anti-oxidative activity. The obtained results support for the uses of this plant as traditional medicine. Infectious diseases are the second leading cause of death worldwide. Treatment of infections continues to be problematic in modern time because of the severe side effects of some drugs and the growing resistance to antimicrobial agents. The activities observed could be attributed to the presence of some of the phytochemicals detected which have been associated with antibacterial activity. INTRODUCTION: Bacteria and fungi are responsible for many infectious diseases. The increasing clinical implications of drug resistant fungal and bacterial pathogens have lent additional urgency to antimicrobial drug research. Medicinal plants are major sources of obtaining antimicrobial agents . Plants are used medicinally worldwide as sources of many potent drugs .Traditional medical practitioners use variety of herbal preparations to treat different kinds of diseases including microbial infections . Plants are the natural reservoir of many antimicrobial agents. In recent times, traditional medicine as an alternative form of health care and to overcome microbial resistance has led the researchers to investigate the antimicrobial activity of medicinal plants . The antimicrobial screening which is the first stage of antimicrobial drug research is performed to ascertain the susceptibility of various fungi and bacteria to any agent. This test measures the ability of each test sample to inhibit the in vitro fungal and bacterial growth. This ability may be estimated by any of the following three methods;