Brintha M*, Prabha M, Thampiraj S and Beena Lawrence
The current study was investigated the antimicrobial properties of Manilkara zapota (L) Royen grown at two different sites in Tamil Nadu state of India (Murasancode of Kanyakumari district (site I) and Kudankulam of Tirunelveli District (site II). Bioassays for antimicrobial activities were carried using aqueous, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform and ethanol extracts of fruits from plants grown at the selected sites were used for find out the antimicrobial activities through bioassays against few pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Gram positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Bacillus subtilis, gram negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and fungal strains like Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger were utilized for the current study. The fruit fractions from plant of the two sites showed variation in degrees of antimicrobial activity against the microorganism investigated. The ethanolic fruit extract of Manilkara zapota plants of site II showed significant antibacterial activity in cultures of Bacillus subtilis showing growth inhibition zone of 30 mm compared to all tested bacterial strains. Antifungal activity of ethanolic fruit extracts from plants of site II exhibited higher activity in cultures of Aspergillus flavus producing growth inhibition zone of 20 mm. The study shows that more antimicrobial activity is shown by ethanolic extract of fruits of plants from site II, the reason for which is discussed.
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