Preliminary phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of Gymnema sylvestre: A medicinal plant Boomibalagan P.1,*, Eswaran S.2, Rathinavel S.3 1PG and Research Centre in Botany, Raja Doraisingam Govt. Arts College, Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, India 2Department of Botany, Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Memorial College, Kamuthi, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India 3PG and Research Centre in Botany, Saraswathi Narayanan College (Autonomous), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author
Online published on 24 May, 2018. Abstract The present study was carried out to evaluate the phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of Gymnema sylvestre against ten microbial strains causing oral infections. The qualitative phytochemical analyses were carried out following the Indian pharmacopoeia and the methods. The MIC values of the plant extracts were determined against the selected test organisms using the methods as described by National Committee for Chemical Laboratory Standard and the in vitro antimicrobial activity was determined by using the agar disc diffusion method. The phytochemical analysis carried out revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins and tri terpenoids in this medicinal plant. The antimicrobial activity of five different extracts of medicinal plants were evaluated using well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typhi, Chromobacterium violaceum, Burkolderia mallei and Candida albicans respectively. The chloroform extracts of this plant shown best antimicrobial activity against selected microbes. The results provide justification for the use of the medicinal plants to treat various oral infections. Top Keywords Gymnema sylvestre, Diabetic, Chloroform Extract, Bioactive Compounds, Antimicrobial Activity. Top |