Advanced Research Journal of Microbiology Vol. 1 (4), pp. 056-059, December, 2013.© Advanced Scholars Journals
 

Full Length Research Paper

Antibacterial activity of Lallemantia royleana (Benth.) indigenous to Pakistan

Seemab Mahmood, Muhammad Qasim Hayat, Alia Sadiq*, Shabina Ishtiaq, Sadia Malik and Muhammad Ashraf

Medicinal Plants Research Laboratory, Department of Plant Biotechnology, Atta-Ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), H-12 Islamabad, Pakistan.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected].

Accepted 8 November, 2013

Abstract 

Lallemantia royleana (Benth.) is an important folk medicine in Pakistan. This natural herb is used as folk remedy for number of ailments. This study was conducted to assess the antibacterial activity of four different organic extracts of L. royleana seeds against four bacterial strains (Escherichia coli,Enterobacter cloaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) for the first time by disc diffusion method. Except aqueous extracts, all organic extracts of L. royleana seeds displayed significant anti-bacterial activity against all the tested bacteria. The chloroform extract exhibited highest anti-bacterial activity for all bacterial strains. Results shows that L. royleana seeds possess significant antibacterial potential against S. aureus, E. coli and E. cloaceae, therefore, it can be a good remedy for skin disease and gastro-intestinal problems caused by human pathogenic bacterial strains. Further screening for phytochemicals should be carried out in search of novel therapeutic compounds.

Key words: Antibacterial activity, zone of inhibition, phytochemical, aqueous extracts, antibiotic.