ANTIMICROBIAL SCREENING OF Pseudarthria viscida (L.) Wight & Arn.- A MEDICINALLY POTENT PLANT AGAINST COMMON PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS

Pseudarthria viscida (L.) Wight & Arn. (Fabaceae) commonly called “Moovila” in local language, is a perennial semi erect diffuse under shrub and is an essential component of many famous Ayurvedic formulations like Dashamoola, Mahanarayana taila and Dhantara taila. The medicinal property of this plant is may be due to the presence of some secondary metabolites such as rutin, quercetin, gallic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, 1,5 dicaffeoyl quinic acid, oleic acid and tetradecanoic acid. The main aim of the proposed work is to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Pseudarthria viscida against some selected microorganisms. Preliminary phytochemical analysis was also done. Active ingredients from the dried and powdered plant parts like leaf, stem and root were extracted by distillation using various solvents. Fungus selected for the study includes Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus nigricans, Penicillium notatum, Neurospora crassa, and Alternaria species. Bacteria selected were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus vulgaris. Results showed that extracts from different plant parts showed high antibacterial and antifungal effect. Among them methanol extract of root showed highest antimicrobial activity. Evidently there is scope for development of new antimicrobial agents from this plant.