Antibacterial activity of Lallemantia royleana (Benth.) indigenous to Pakistan

Abstract

Chemical isolates of many medicinal plants have been used as anti-bacterial agents worldwide. Due to increase in antibiotic resistance, it is the need of hour to look for the alternatives. In this research, the antibacterial activity of four extracts (methanol, ethanol, chloroform and aqueous) of Lallemantia royleana seeds were evaluated against four bacterial strains (Escherichia. coli, Enterobacter cloaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) for the first time by disc diffusion method. All organic extracts of Lallemantia royleana seeds displayed significant anti-bacterial activity against all the test bacteria. No antibacterial activity was observed in case of aqueous extracts. The chloroform extract exhibited highest anti-bacterial activity by giving greater values for zone of inhibition for all strains of bacteria. The seed of the plant demonstrated to be most potent against S. aureus infections and gastro-intestinal problems caused by E. coli and E. cloaceae. Results of the study have shown that L. royleana is the paramount candidate for phytochemical studies for the isolation of novel therapeutic compounds.