Abstract
Considering the post COVID19 pandemic situation, it can be assumed that using safer clothing will be a great attraction point for consumers across the world. In that scenario, effective antimicrobial finishes that are readily available and cheap would contribute to the consumer demand of safer clothing. This study scrutinized the antimicrobial activity of bleached cotton fabric treated with extracts of Ocimum tenuiflorum (Basil), Mentha spicata (Spearmint), Centella asiatica (Indian pennywort) and Azadirachta indica (Neem) as antimicrobial finishes. The study aims at assessing the comparative activity of four abovementioned natural medicinal plants which can be used as ecofriendly antimicrobial finishes for textiles. Bleached cotton fabric samples were treated with plant extractions following exhaust method and then evaluated by using ASTM E2149-01 method against gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli. The results depicted that all the four samples showed antimicrobial activity with more than 95% reduction of micro-organisms. Among the four, Ocimum tenuiflorum (Basil) showed the best result against both E. coli and S. aureus with reduction percentage of 98.81% and 99.16% respectively. Although Azadirachta indica (Neem) has comparatively the lowest performance against E. coli, its antimicrobial activity against S. aureus is very close to Ocimum tenuiflorum (Basil).
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