Comparative study of in-vitro antimicrobial activity of Jatropha gossypifolia l. (Euphorbiaceae) stem and leaf extract

Abstract

The antibacterial activity of crude chloroform, methanolic and aqueous extracts of Jatropha gossypifolia L stem and leaves was investigated using disc agar diffusion against clinical isolates of bacteria consisting of Bacillus subtilis, Escheria coli and Pseudomonas putida. Jatropha gossypifolia L well known plant of family Euphorbiaceae is used as a therapeutic agent.  Crude powder of stem and leaves screened for antibacterial activity by zone of inhibition. The extracts exhibited broad spectrum antibacterial activities against the microorganisms. The chloroform stem extract exhibited highest zone of inhibition against Escheria coli (12±0.07mm) among bacteria. Both methanol and chloroform leaves extract showed better results over the aqueous extract. The methanolic leaves extract exhibited highest zone of inhibition against Pseudomonas putida (10.9±0.02mm) and chloroform extract exhibited highest zone of inhibition against bacteria Escheria coli (10.8±0.04mm). Activity Index of chloroform crude extracts of stem is maximum (0.73) for E. coli and chloroform crude extracts of leaves for E. coli is maximum (0.658). The findings in this study provide the basis for further study on the plants with the aim of isolating and identifying the active substances. The plants could also be standardized to develop cheap, culturally acceptable herbal medicines.