Evaluation of total phenols and antibacterial activity of certain drug plants against some bacterial species

The present paper deals with antimicrobial activity of Glycyrrhiza glabra, Tinospora cordifolia, Tribulus terrestris, Thevetia peruviana, Adhatoda vasica, Vitex negungo, Apium graveolens and, Annona squamosa. It was studied against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhy B (STB), Shigella dysenteriae using solvent (methanol and petroleum ether) extraction method. Methanol extract of all eight plants showed prominent inhibitory activity against S. dysenteriae and STB while G. glabra, V. negundo, and T. peruviana showed maximum zone of inhibition against four studied bacterial species. These results suggest that methanol extract is more effective than petroleum ether for the antimicrobial activity. Further total phenols were estimated and antibacterial activity of these plants in relation to total phenolic content is discussed