J. Parekh's scientific contributions

The antibacterial effect of some selected Indian medicinal plants was evaluated on bacterial strains like Bacillus cereus ATCC11778, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC13048, Escherichia coli ATCC25922 and Klebsiella pneumoniae NCIM2719. The solvents used for the extraction of plants were water and methanol. The in vitro antibacterial activity was performed by agar disc diffusion and agar well diffusion method. The most susceptible Gram-positive bacteria was B. cereus, while the most susceptible Gram-negative bacteria was K. pneumoniae. The extracts of Abrus precatorius, Cardiospermum halicacabum and Gmelina asiatica could not inhibit any of the bacterial strains investigated. The most active antibacterial plant was Caesalpinia pulcherrima. The significant antibacterial activity of active extracts was compared with the standard antimicrobics, piperacillin (100 μg/disc) and gentamicin (10 μg/disc). The results obtained in the present study suggest that Caesalpinia pulcherrima can be used in treating diseases caused by the test organisms.