Antimicrobial activity of Striga asiatica (l) o. ktze

Present investigation deals with antimicrobial activity of Striga asiatica (L.) O. Ktze. The antimicrobial activities of S. asiatica acetone, ethanol and aqueous extracts were tested against 7 bacterial strains and 2 fungal strains by well diffusion method. The antibacterial activities were tested against human pathogenic strains i.e. Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Streptococcus pneumoniae while, antifungal activity was tested against Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The results showed that, acetone and ethanol extracts of S. asiatica showed significant antimicrobial activity against microorganism, except E. coli. The aqueous extract did not showed antimicrobial activity against microorganism tested. The ethanol extract possessed more antibacterial activity than acetone extract while, acetone extract possessed more antifungal activity than ethanol extract.