Phytochemical Screening and In Vitro Antifungal and Antibacterial Analysis of Four Indian Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Four plants have been used in present study i.e., chamomile, cinnamon, cloves and lemon, that are commonly used as spices in Indian foods as well as in the recipes of ayurvedic medicines since the ancient times. They have not only antimicrobial property for curing diseases but also have essential concentration of certain phytochemicals. Hence, phytochemical screening (both qualitative – saponin, tannin, flavonoid, carbohydrate, protein, alkaloid, steroid, phenol, phytosterol, terpenoids and soluble starch, and quantitative – ascorbic acid, citric acid, carbohydrate and phenol) of these four plant samples has been carried out along with the antibacterial and antifungal activity against some chosen bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis) and fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus candidus, Penicillium corylophilum and Penicillium digitatum). The antibacterial activity against S. aureus, S. epidermis, E. coli and B. subtilis and antifungal activity against A. niger, A. candidus, P. corylophilum and Penicillium digitatum have shown different values by all the four plants. Keywords: Plant medicine, lemon, antibacterial, antifungal, cinnamon, spices Cite this Article Udita Das, Aakansha Priya, Jaspreet Kaur Ahluwalia et al. Phytochemical Screening and In Vitro Antifungal and Antibacterial Analysis of Four Indian Medicinal Plants. Research and Reviews: Journal of Herbal Science. 2017; 6(3): 17–31p.