IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF DATURA SPECIES FOR POTENTIAL ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

Various parts of four Datura plant species viz.D.ferox, D.inoxia, D.metal and D.stramonium were examined for their potential antimicrobial activity in aqueous and ethanolic extracts against pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis-2699, Escherichia coli-2803, Staphylococcus aureus-2602, Proteus vulgaris-2027, Salmonella typhi-2501; and pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus flavus- 525, Aspergillus niger (local culture), Candida albicans-3100 and Rhizopus stolonifer (local culture).The results of agar well diffusion assay indicate that the pattern of inhibition depends largely upon plant part used and organism tested. The ethanolic extracts were showed good inhibitory activity than the aqueous extracts. Extract prepared from leaves were shown to have better efficacy than stem, and root.