PHYTOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT AND SYNERGISTIC BIOEFFICACY OF CURCUMA CAESIA (ROXB.) FROM BASTAR AGAINST MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT HUMAN PATHOGENS

The current research is an attempt to investigate the antibacterial and synergistic bioefficacy of Curcuma caesia (Roxb.) versus human pathogenic bacteria viz., Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris procured from IMTECH, Chandigarh, India. Agar well diffusion assay was performed, and one-way ANOVA examined the outcome. The qualitative phytochemical examination revealed a positive test for flavonoids, glycosides, phytosterols, resins, saponins, and tannins. However, the quantitative estimation of phytochemicals revealed that the root sample contains highest amount of flavonoid followed by total phenol, saponin and alkaloid. The bioactive extract was purified using column chromatography. The purified fraction and commercially available antibacterials viz., tetracycline, streptomycin, and penicillin was evaluated for their synergistic or antagonistic efficacy counter to multi-drug resistant human pathogenic bacteria. The outcome divulge that a purified fraction of C. caesia was found to act synergistically with tetracycline against all the bacterial cultures under investigation. The results with streptomycin showed maximum synergistic activity against B. cereus. However, penicillin and purified fraction exhibit utmost synergistic activity against S. epidermidis and B. subtilis. The results revealed that the methanolic root extract of C. caesia bears a potential bioactive phytocompound conferring enhanced synergism.