Comparative study on the antimicrobial activities of three Indian medicinal plants

Aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts from the leaves of Ficus religiosa, Thespesia populnea and Hibiscus tiliaceus were completely screened for antibacterial and antifungal activity. The chloroform extract of F. religiosa possessed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity with a zone of inhibition of 10 to 21 mm at very low MIC values. The methanolic extracts possessed moderate antibacterial activity against a few bacterial strains. There was less antibacterial activity or none at all using aqueous extracts. The extracts of F. religiosa were found to be active against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium notatum. The extracts from the leaves exhibited considerable and variable inhibitory effects against most of the microorganisms tested.