Article Published In Vol.3 (May-June-2015)

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Screening of Twenty Medicinal Plants against Oral Microbes

Author : Preeti Gauniyal and Dr. Udai vir Singh Teotia

The present study was carried out to evaluate the phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of twenty medicinal plants against five microbial strains causing oral infections. The phytochemical analysis carried out revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, saponins, reducing sugar and steroids in most of the medicinal plants. The antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extract of medicinal plants were evaluated using well diffusion method against Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus acidophilus ,Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis. Ethanolic extracts of Aloe barbadensis, Calendulla officinalis Cinnamum zeylanicum and Tinospora coridfolia, were not effective against Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis respectively. However, Azadirachta indica, Centella asiatica, Lannea coromandelica, Rosa centifolia, Zingiber officinale were showing week and the extract of Allium sativum, Citrus limon, Citrus sinesis, Curcuma longa, Emblica officinalis ,Glycyrrhiza glabra, Juglans regia, Ocimum sanctum, Piper nigrum and Psidium guajava displaying strong antimicrobial activity against most of the test species. The ethanol extracts of Syzygium aromaticum showing strong antimicrobial activity against all test species. The results provide justification for the use of the medicinal plants to treat various oral infections.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Oral infections, Antimicrobial activity, Phytochemical activity, Well diffusion method, Ethanol extract, Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus acidophilus ,Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis