EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT AND FRACTIONS OF FICUS HISPIDA LINN. FRUITS

The present study was carried out to investigate the methanolic extract of Ficus hispida (Bengali name- Kakdumur Family-Moraceae) fruits and it’s fractions (chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions) for their in vitro antimicrobial activities. The test was carried out against six pathogenic bacteria using agar disc diffusion method. The extract and it’s fractions exhibited reasonable antibacterial activities against three gram positive (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Agrobacterium species) and three gram negative (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei) pathogenic bacteria. Ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) showed highest zone of inhibition (20.5 and 28 mm in diameter) against E. coli at a concentration of 200 and 400 μg/disc, respectively. The activity of crude methanolic extract (CME) was higher (20 nm in diameter) than EAF against gram positive bacteria. The chloroform fraction (CHF) did not show any activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Our present study suggests that active antimicrobial agents present in the extract of Ficus hispida fruits may have potential for the treatment of bacterial infection.