ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF LAWSONIA INERMIS, LANTANA CAMARA AND SWERTIA ANGUSTIFOLIA

Abstract

Three medicinally important plants Lawsonia inermis, Lantana camara and Swertia angustifolia were evaluated for their antibacterial and antifungal activities. L. inermis extract showed maximum activity against staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. L. camara extract was not much active against any bacterial strain. A range of zone of inhibition 9- 12.3 mm was observed against all bacterial strains tested. S. angustifolia did not show activity against any bacterial strain. In case of fungal growth inhibition L. inermis showed good inhibition of 3 fungal strains Fusarium solani, Alternaria and Mucor. The percent inhibitions were 78.8, 65.3 and 71.1, respectively. These findings demonstrate that L. inermis is a good candidate for further studies that carries both antibacterial and antifungal active constituents.