ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF COLEUS FORSKOHLII ROOT EXTRACT AGAINST HUMAN PATHOGENS

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are the wealthy source of antibacterial agents and curatives. Coleus forskohlii are commonly practiced medicinal plants in the villages of Salem District, Tamilnadu (India). Plants grown in this region are not systematically tested for their biological activities in general and antimicrobial activity in particular. Hence, In vitro antibacterial activity of crude root extracts of the plants was tested by disc diffusion method against human pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis. Gram-negative bacterial strains were more susceptible to the crude extracts as trx for sale compare to gram-positive. However, this study revealed maximum growth inhibition and effectiveness was remarkably observed in the extracts of Coleus forskohlii. These results indicate that leaves have a potential broad spectrum antibacterial activity.

Key words: Coleus forskohlii, Antibacterial activity, Human pathogens and Disc diffusion.