Antimicronbial Activity of the Crude Root Extract of Berberis Lycium Royle

The present work was carried out to study the antimicrobial activity of the aqueous, petroleum ether and ethanolic extracts of the root of Berberis lycium Royle (Family Berberidaceae), against Gram(+) bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis, Gram (–) viz Salmonella typhi, E. coli and a fungal strain Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activities were determined by using Paper-Disc method, described by Casal [7] and Chung et al., [8]. The ethanolic and aqueous crud root extract were found to be most effective antifungal and antibacterial agents while no significant activity was shown by the petroleum ether extract against test organisms. The results were compared with the inhibition caused by commercially available standard reference antibiotic disc (Tetracycline). The inhibitory effects of all the crude extracts on the growth of both Gram (+) and Gram (-) organisms are very close and identical in magnitude and are comparable with standard antibiotic disc used.