Comparitive Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Acmella Calva (DC.) R. K. Jansen and Crotalaria Ovalifolia Wall. –Potential Medicinal Herbs

C. Yogeshwari^a* and K. Kalaichelvi^b
a*Research scholar, PG and Research Department of Botany, Vellalar College for Women (Autonomous), Thindal, Erode – 638012, Tamil Nadu, India.
^bAssociate Professor, PG and Research Department of Botany, Vellalar College for Women (Autonomous), Thindal, Erode – 638012, Tamil Nadu, India.

A B S T R A C T
The present study deals with the evaluation of antibacterial activity of two medicinally important plants Acmella calva (DC.) R. K. Jansen and Crotalaria ovalifolia Wall. belonging to the family Asteraceae. Evaluation of the antibacterial activity was carried out using two solvents viz., ethanol and water which were tested against two human pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus). In Acmella calva, among the two solvent extracts the ethanol extract showed significant activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Among the tested extracts (root, aerial parts and flower) the ethanol extract of flower showed maximum antimicrobial activity against both the tested microorganisms than the aqueous extract. In Crotalaria ovalifolia, ethanol extract was more effective as antibacterial agent than the corresponding aqueous extract for the two pathogens. Among the two plants, the flower (ethanol) extract of Crotalaria ovalifolia showed maximum inhibition and the root extract of both the plants showed minimum inhibition.
Keywords: Antibacterial, Acmella calva, Crotalaria ovalifolia, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.