ANTIBACTERIAL SCREENING OF THE BARK OF ADENANTHERA PAVONINA (L.)

Adenanthera pavonina L. syn. Red Sandalwood, (Fabaceae) is an unarmed deciduous tree and its bark is traditionally used for treatment of various disease conditions in gonorrhea, haematuria, ulcers, it is astringent, vulnerary and aphrodisiac in nature. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the qualitative analysis of phytochemicals and antibacterial activity of solvent extracts of Adenanthera pavonina bark. Antimicrobial activity of different solvent extracts of Adenanthera pavonina bark were tested against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains by observing the zone of inhibition. The bacteria used in the study were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Enterbacter aerogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Salmonella typhimurium. Ethanolic and aqueous extracts showed the highest activity against all the tested bacteria. These results were compared with the Zones of inhibition produced by commercially available standard antibiotics .The inhibitory effects of extracts are higher or very close and comparable with the standard antibiotics used.