TO INVESTIGATE THE ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIBIOFILM EFFICACY OF URARIA PICTA AND ITS ADULTERANT SPECIES AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA

An ayurvedic nutritional tonic, i.e., Dashmularishta, is made up of ten different plants that support gut health and restore appetite by relieving indigestion, bloating, etc. U. picta is one of the important medicinal plant used in this formulation. Due to ever increasing demand U. picta is now in the status of endangered. As a result, many of its similar species are being used as its adulterant in the formulation. A comparative study has been performed on U. picta and its adulterant species (D. gangaticum, D. puchellum, D. velutinum, D. longipes, and L. reticulate) for their effectiveness against multidrug-resistant bacteria. The plant extracts from these plants were screened against ten different clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant bacteria. U. picta, D. gangaticum, and D. puchellum exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. However, U. picta presented minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 25 mg/ml and 12.5 mg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. In contrast, D. gangaticum presented MICs of 12.5 mg/ml and 50 mg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, whereas D. puchellum presented an MIC of 50 mg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus. Compared with its adulterant species, U. picta showed strong antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against the test bacteria. A major decrease in biofilm formation was detected via both qualitative and quantitative tests against S. aureus and E. coli. Furthermore, light microscopic analysis confirmed a substantial reduction in the density and thickness of the biofilm matrix against S. aureus and E. coli.