Antimicrobial Activity of Ethnomedicinally Important Asclepiads from Shervaroyan Hills, Southern Eastern Ghats

Abstract

Based on the ethnomedicinal data and availability, six plant species, Cryptolepis buchanani, Gymnema sylvestre, Hemidesmus indicus, Secamone emetica, Leptadenia reticulata and Wattakaka volubilis belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae from Shervaroyan Hills, Southern Eastern Ghats have been selected for the present study. The leaf materials of the selected ethnomedicinal plants were used for cold extraction with ethanol and the crude ethanolic leaf extracts at 1000ppm concentration were used for antimicrobial assay. Using antimicrobial disc diffusion method, antibacterial activity of the leaf extracts were tested against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli; antifungal activity was tested against Candida albicans. The results of the present study revealed that the ethanolic leaf extracts of Cryptolepis buchanani showed highest zone of inhibition of 2.3 cm diameter against Bacillus subtilis. The leaf extracts of Hemidesmus indicus exhibited a maximum inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli with a zone of inhibition of 2.8 cm. The highest zone of inhibition diameter in Leptadenia reticulata leaf extract was 1.4 cm recorded against the fungus, Candida albicans. There is a scope to use ethanolic extracts of the leaves of the Asclepiads, used in the study, against bacteria and fungus.