PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN-VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF POGOSTEMON QUADRIFOLIUS (BENTH) OF LAMIACEAE

Pogostemon quadrifolius (Benth.) is a medicinal aromatic shrub in family Lamiaceae which is used as folk medicine in India. This present study deals with the preliminary screening of Pogostemon quadrifolius antimicrobial activity and TLC profiling of the crude plant extract. Cold extraction technique was carried out to prepare the crude plant extract, which was further screened for the presence of phytochemicals. The extracts were assessed for antibacterial and antifungal studies by disc diffusion method. Thin layer chromatography was utilized for solvent standardization. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of diverse classes of bioactive components. The quantitative analysis of flavanoids, alkaloids and total phenolic content in different extracts varied from each other. Evaluation of antibacterial studies showed that methanolic extract and ethyl acetate extract showed activity against standard and MDR strains respectively. The ethanolic extract also showed fungicidal activity. And finally the solvent standardization was performed for the separation of phyto-constituents by TLC, which showed a very good abundance of active principles (based on their R_f values). All these preliminary reports warrant an in depth analysis on the usefulness of Pogostemon quadrifoliusas a miracle drug against various ailments.