Antimicrobial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants of Nakyal District Kotli Azad Kashmir

Abstract

Three medicinal plants, namely Euphorbia helioscopia (Family: Euphorbiaceae), Solanum xanthocarpum and Solanum nigrum (Family Solanaceae), were screened for potential antimicrobial activity against medically important microbial strains, namely Pseudomonas syringae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium and a fungal strain i.e. Aspergillus flavus. Antimicrobial activity was determined in acetone, chloroform, ethanol and methanol extracts using agar disc diffusion method. The ethanol and methanol crude extracts of selected plants were more potent than acetone and chloroform extracts of all the plants studied against bacterial strains but fungus was resistant to all the extracts. The ethanol and methanol extract of Solanum nigrum showed strong activity against all the tested bacterial strains. Hence, it was observed that this plant can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.