Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of chemical constituents of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Achyranthes aspera</i> L. roots against human pathogens

Abstract

Antimicrobial activity of roots of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Achyranthes aspera</i> L. (Family-Amaranthaceae) was studied against seven pathogenic bacterial and three fungal strains by agar well diffusion method. Antimicrobial activity was recorded for hexane, chloroform, methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts. Alcohol (ethanol and methanol) extracts exhibited higher degree of antimicrobial activity compared to aqueous, chloroform and hexane extracts. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> turned out to be the most susceptible bacterium to the crude chemical constituents of roots using the standard drugs, Tetracycline and Clotrimazole. Minimum inhibition concentration values of chloroform, methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts were determined by the agar dilution method ranged between 62.5 and 1000 µg. The study suggests that the root extracts possess bioactive compounds with antimicrobial activity against the tested bacteria and fungi revealing a significant scope to develop a novel broad spectrum antimicrobial drug formulation from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">A. aspera</i>.