J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Aug; 66(2): 235-40.

Preliminary screening of ethnomedicinal plants from India.

Perumal Samy R, Ignacimuthu S, Raja DP.

Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai, India.

Antibacterial activity of aqueous residues of 16 different ethnomedicinal plants have been studied. The effect of the aqueous extract at two different weights of plant residues, 30 and 40 mg, were tested against three gram positive bacteria and seven gram negative bacteria by the filter paper disc diffusion method. Among the tested plants, Cleome gynandropsis and Ageratum conyzoides showed a significant control of the growth of Alkaligens viscolactis, Klebsiella aerogenas, Bacillus cerues and Streptococcus pyogens. The maximum inhibitions were observed in Tridax procumbens, Cleome viscosa, Acalypha indica and Boerhaavia erecta against Aeromonas hydrophilla and Bacillus cerues.