Abstract

A STUDY OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF SIDDHA HERBAL DRUG NARUVILI VER CHOORANAM (CORDIA DICHOTOMA ROOT)

Kalpana R.*, Devaki R., Anbu N. and Kanakavalli K.

Abstract

The current study is to evaluate the antimicrobial activity oh Siddha herbal drug Naruvili ver Chooranam (Cordia dichotoma) commonly called as Indian cherry belongs to the family Boraginaceae. Presently there is a great interest on herbal medicine and integrating their use into modern medicine because of their low cost, drug resistance, limits of medicine, medicinal value, availability and cultural exchange. Several plant extracts have both phytochemical and antimicrobial properties, typically resulted from combining secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and terpenoids. Nowadays drug resistance has become an important issue to modern medicine and the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy. The plant is used as anthelminthic, astringent, diuretic, and beneficial in diseases of lungs, spleen and urinary tract, powdered kernels mixed with oil applied to ringworms, dyspepsia, and fever. The dried plant material was extracted into aqueous, ethanol, and chloroform fraction. The strains of used in testing anti-microbial activity of CD were obtained from microbial type culture collection (MTCC). The bacteria used in the study are gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, pseudomonas aeruginosa, shigella flexneri, salmonella typhi); gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillis, Strepococcus pyogens) and one fungal species Candida albicans were used for assessing the antimicrobial activity with standard drug tetracycline (10 mg/ml).

Keywords: Naruvili ver chooranam, Antimicrobial activity, disc diffusion method, broth dilution, Cordia dichotoma.