Appraisal of phytochemical and antibacterial potential of Myrica nagi Willd. extracts against respiratory tract pathogens

Abstract

In the present study the antibacterial activity was studied against five bacterial pathogens i.e. Haemophilus influenzae MTCC 3826, Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 2474, Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 1144, Streptococcus pneumoniae MTCC 655 and Streptococcus pyogenes MTCC 442. Shade dried root were crushed and extracted in petroleum ether (PET), acetone (ACE), methanol (MeOH) and water (H₂O) by using Soxhlet apparatus. The agar well diffusion method was adopted to examine antibacterial activity of extracts against the susceptible organisms. Erythromycin was used as positive control to determine the sensitivity of the strains. Phytochemical analysis was done for plant extract. The results showed that MeOH extract was most active as comparison to other extract. The maximum inhibition was found against H. influenzae (18.4±0.07 mm) followed by S. pyogenes (17.3±0.13 mm), S. pneumoniae (16.2±0.07 mm) and P. aeruginosa (15.5±0.15 mm) respectively. The minimum inhibition was noted against S. aureus (14.4±0.13 mm). The phytochemical screening for MeOH extract has shown that plant contains flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, steroids, terpene, saponins and tannins. Therefore, M. nagi can be helpful as an alternative source of medicine and new drug discovery.