Antimicrobial activity of leaf extract of <i style="">Basilicum polystachyon </i>(L) Moench

Abstract

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"> Phenolic extract of leaves of <i style="">Basilicum polystachyon </i>(L) Moench was tested for <i style="">in vitro</i> antimicrobial activity against five bacteria (<i style="">Escherichia coli</i>, <i style="">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, <i style="">Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i style="">Bacillus subtilis</i>, <i style="">Micrococcus leuteus</i>) and three fungi (<i style="">Fusarium oxysporum</i>, <i style="">Aspergillus niger</i>, <i style="">Helminthosporium oryzae</i>). Efficacy of organic solvents, methanol and ethanol, as agents for extraction was compared with acidic water (2<i style="">M</i>; HCl). High-pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) data showed that acidic extraction (2<i style="">M</i>; HCl) resulted in higher yield of caffeic acid (0.437 mg g^-1) and rosmarinic acid (0.919 mg g^-1). Acidic extract showed high activity against Gram (+) ve bacteria, but was less active against Gram (-) ve bacteria. Amongst the tested fungi, maximum activity was exhibited against <i style="">Aspergillus niger</i>. This is the first report on the phenolic constituents and bioactivity of <i style="">B. polystachyon</i>. </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>