Antibacterial Screening of Root Extract of Asparagus racemosus Willd

Asparagus racemosus Willd. is a medicinal plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae, found in tropical and subtropical regions of India. The present study has been attempted to explore the antibacterial activity of the root extracts of the plant against pathogenic bacteria. The plant material was defatted with petroleum ether and successively extracted with two solvents namely methanol and water using soxhlet extractor. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of terpenoids, saponin and glycosides. The antimicrobial activity of both the root extract of the plant was evaluated against Actinomyces howellii, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebseilla oxytoca, in which the methanolic extract showed significant antibacterial activity as zone of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) exhibited by methanolic extract against bacterial strains was found to be in the range of 12.5–25 mg/ml and 12.5–50 mg/ml respectively. The compounds that impart antimicrobial activity to this plant thus needs to be identified which could be further purified and characterized for commercial applications.