Scilight Press

Plants, being a repository of countless bioactive molecules, have long been used as antimicrobial agents for combating a wide range of infections. The current research was aimed at assessing in vitro antibacterial and antifungal potential of P. minima. Plant extracts were prepared in polar (methanol, aqueous) and non-polar (chloroform, benzene) solvent from aerial vegetative parts using Soxhlet apparatus. Antimicrobial activity of the extracts was examined against seven bacterial and four fungal strains using disc diffusion and micro broth dilution assay. Highest antibacterial efficacy was found in methanolic extract against M. smegmatis (16.9±0.07) followed by E. coli (14.8±0.15) and P. aeruginosa (14.7±0.15). P. minima extracts were also found to be effective against C. violaceum, M. smegmatis and P. aeruginosa, all of which showed resistance to standard antibiotic (ampicillin). Methanolic extract also exhibited highest antifungal activity, whereas aqueous extract was nearly inactive against the tested fungal strains. Chloroform extract was most active against F. oxysporum (12.5±0.29) and least inhibition was recorded for R. solani (11.2±0.44). Benzene extract was found to be potent for all the fungal strains except R. solani. Among the tested fungal strains, C. albicans was found to be the most susceptible as all the extracts exhibited ZOI against C. albicans. Interestingly, the fungal strain was found to be resistant to the broad spectrum antifungal i.e. fluconazole. The findings of current study showed P. minima to exhibit significant antimicrobial efficacy suggesting it to be a source for novel antimicrobial compounds.