Abstract
This experiment was subjected to investigate antibacterial and antifungal properties of methanolic extract of Eclipta alba. Disc diffusion techniques were used to determine the antibacterial and antifungal activity of the Methanolic extract. The antibacterial activity of the both methanolic extract and isolated compound were found to be good (7-18 mm) however the antifungal activity was moderate (11-14 mm). 100 mu g/ml concentration of Methanolic extract of Eclipta alba showed the minimum inhibitory concentration which compared with standard drug kanamycin and clotrimazole ( 10 mu g). Among the gram negative bacteria tested, Proteus vulgaris showed highest zone of inhibition (16 and 17 mm) in the methanolic extract at the dose of 250 and 500 mu g per disc respectively whereas Pseudomonas aeroginosa showed the lowest zone of inhibition (9 and 10 mm) at the dose of 250 and 500 mu g per disc respectively. Among the 4 tested gram positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus exhibited the highest zone of inhibition (13 and 15 mm) which was followed by Bacillus cereus (11 and 12 mm) and Bacillus clausii and Bacillus subtilis (10 and 11 mm) showed the lowest zone of inhibition at the dose of 250 and 500 mu g per disc respectively. Results of fungus exhibited same zone of inhibition (12 and 13 mm at 250 and 500 mu g per disc respectively) for both Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. This research supports, methanolic extract of Eclipta alba has potential antimicrobial activity.