ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICACY OF CURCUMA CAESIA FROM BASTAR DISTRICT OF CHHATTISGARH, INDIA

Bio-efficacy of plants and their derivatives have been reemphasized in recent times. The present investigation was carried out to study the antibacterial efficacy of Curcuma caesia (family: Zingiberaceae) commonly known as kali haldi. The root, stem and leaf of Curcuma caesia were extracted successively with polar (aqueous, methanol), dipolar (acetone) and non-polar (chloroform) solvents, and their physical characteristics were explored which revealed the presence of more phytocompounds in case of root followed by stem and leaf. The extracts were assessed for their potential antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria viz., Bacillus cerus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoneae. The gram positive bacteria were found to be more sensitive than gram negative bacteria. The inhibition of both gram positive and gram negative bacteria by the extracts indicates the presence of broad spectrum antibacterial potentiality of the plant. The root extracts of the plant were found to be more effective in inhibiting the bacterial growth as compared to stem and leaf. The root extracts of the plant showed inhibition against all gram positive and gram negative bacteria except Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest activity index was recorded in root methanol and chloroform extracts in case of Bacillus cerus and Klebsiella pneumoneae respectively. The results were promising and justified the use of Curcuma caesia root by tribal community of Bastar and traditional healers in combating several bacterial diseases