PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF GYMNEMA SYLVESTRE R.BR. EX SCHULT.

The present investigation deals with preliminary phytochemical analysis and in vitro antibacterial potentials of different solvent extracts of Gymnema sylvestre were demonstrated. The phytochemical tests of the extracts have revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, terpenoids carbohydrate, tannin, and saponin. Five gram-positive (Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus cremoris, Streptococcus fecalis, Staphylococcus aureus) and five gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella paratyphi, Shigella boydi, Shigella dysentriae) bacterial strains were tested. The ethanol extracts have been showed encouraging results. The maximum inhibition were recorded 42.3mm in Bacillus cereus at 250µl concentration followed by E. coli (38.4mm), Streptococcus fecalis (37.2mm), Klebsiella pneumonia (35.6mm), S. aureus (33.3mm), P. aeruginosa (30.5mm), S. cremoris (28.1mm) Proteus vulgaris (26.9mm) B. subtilis (23.5mm) and least inhibition was observed in S. typhi (21.7mm). Moderate activity was observed in chloroform extract. Minimum activity was observed in hexane at different concentration tested. Compared to synthetic antibiotic Ampicillin (50mg), solvent extracts showed significant antibacterial activity. The present findings support to the traditional knowledge of the medicinal plants to the local users and plants used as therapeutic agents for treat several diseases caused by the pathogenic bacterial populations. This study confirms significant antibacterial activity of G. sylvestre