Abstract: Water is the basic necessity of life. Ingestion of water contaminated by human or animal excrement, containing pathogenic microorganisms can lead to Water borne infections. Cholera, typhoid and other diarrheal diseases are examples of such diseases. Contaminated drinking water used in the preparation of food or washing of hands and utensils with contaminated water can also lead to water borne disease. In India, over one lakh people die of water-borne diseases annually. The most common water borne pathogenic bacteria include Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. and Vibrio cholerae.
A major section of the world population still relies on natural remedies like medicinal plants for their primary treatment against infections. Medicinal plants either as pure compounds or as standardized extracts provide unlimited opportunities for new drug leads because of the unmatched availability of chemical diversity. Madhuca indica, majorly found in central parts of India, also called as Mahua, is known to possess various medicinal properties.
In the present study, the leaves and bark of Madhuca indica were screened for their antimicrobial potential against the above mentioned water borne pathogenic bacteria. The primary screening of the extracts was done by Agar Ditch Method. The MIC determination was carried out using Agar Cup Method. The best extracts showed activity in the range of 5mg/ml to 7.5 mg/ml. The antioxidant potential of the extracts was determined using DPPH method which gave around 96 - 97 % activity. The primary phytochemical screening of the extracts was done by Thin Layer Chromatography.
Keywords: Antibacterial, Antioxidant, Madhuca indica, Medicinal plants, Phytochemical screening, Water, Water borne infections.
Title: MADHUCA INDICA – A HIGHLY POTENT REMEDY TO TACKLE WATER BORNE INFECTIONS
Author: Swapnil Kamble, Padma Deshmukh, Anand Maurya
International Journal of Life Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-313X (Print), ISSN 2348-3148 (online)
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