A COMPARATIVE ANTIMICROBIAL EVALUATION OF EMBELIARIBES BURM. F. AND EMBELIAROBUSTA AUCT. NONROXB. FRUITS

Background: Vidang (Embelia ribes Burm. f.) is a very famous plant for its anthelmintic activity. In Ayurveda, it is a first choice of drug for its krimighna action or to kill foreign pathogens. Embeliaro busta auct. Nonroxb., the other species of vidang is adulterated in Embelia ribes Burm. f. Therefore shastrokta or original vidang and its adulterant species were selected for the comparative study. Methods: Both aqueous and alcoholic extracts of fruits of both species of Embelia at 10, 20, 30% concentrations were tested for antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion method against a range of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Zone of inhibition of extracts were determined, then activity index and IC₅₀ value was calculated. Results: Both ethanol and Aqueous extracts of Embelia ribes Burm. f. and Embeliaro busta auct. Nonroxb. inhibited the growth of all the tested strains of bacteria. Aqueous extract Embelia ribes Burm. f. has more potent action against microorganism Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiellaaerogenes, ZOI (16mm,14mm,19mm respectively), AI(0.64, 0.78, 0.70 resp.), IC₅₀ (1.751, 1.166, 1.641 respectively). Conclusion:  Embelia ribes Burm. f. has more potent action in comparison to Embeliaro busta auct. Nonroxb.. It concludes shastrokta vidang species (Embelia ribes Burm. f.) is better to its adulterant species (Embeliaro busta auct. Nonroxb.).