ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PONGAMIA PINNATA LINN AND MORINGA OLEIFERA LAM FLOWER EXTRACTS AGAINST SELECTED BACTERIAL STRAINS AND THEIR COMPARATIVE EVALUATION

Abstract

Moringa oleifera Lam and Pongamia pinnata Linn are the two well known tropical tree s with a rich world wide histroy of folklore medicine. Attempts to revisit the medicinal potential of these trees are the need of the hour with emerging drug resistance among common pathogens. In this regard few co mmon pathogens have been considered for testing against the possible antibacterial activity of the concerned plants. The flower ex tracts of the plants were examined for antibacterial activity against Es c herichia coli , Klebsiella pneumonia, Psuedomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. P.pinnata extract (aqueous, ethanol and fresh juice) seems to exhibit more effectiv e antibacterial activity against E.coli, 65.25% more effectively than M.oleifera extracts and almost on - par with the control antibiotic. S.aureus also seems to exhibit more sensitivity to P.pinnata extracts, while better antibacterial activity against K.pu eumoniae and P.aeruginosa could be seen with fresh juice extract of P.pinnata and solvent extract of M.oleifera respectively. The ethanol extract of the flowers were subjected to phytochemical analysis which indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids and polyphenols in the extracts. The study asserts the prospective role of Pongamia and Moringa flower extracts as a source of natural and broad s pectrum antibacterial compounds and opens up the need for further research on their use in the treatment of va rious bacterial infections and to discover the new bioactive compounds which can also be used for prophylactic treatment.