Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANTS USED IN SKIN DISEASE

Dr. Purushottam Gangadhar Dhawale*

ABSTRACT

Traditional medicine is the main source of medical care for a great percentage of the population of the developing world. Medicinal plants have been a valuable source of natural active phytoconsituents that play an important role in treatment of many human diseases. In the present study, phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial activity of all the three selected plants viz Cassia alata, Lantana camara and Azadirachta indica against skin diseases were done. The Soxhlet extraction was done by using different solvents viz., acetone, methanol, water, ethanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the crude powder leaf extracts of Cassia alata, Lantana camara and Azadirachta indica was carried out for various phytoconstituents. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by an agar disc diffusion method against three bacterial strain and three fungal strain. Qualitative phytochemical analysis shows presence of secondary metabolite in extracts. The methanol extracts showed better antimicrobial activity than ethanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts. This may be because of the difference in the presence of phytoconsituents present in them.

Keywords: Antimicrobial activity, herbal medicine, phytochemical analysis.