Abstract

Ten pathogenic bacteria were tested against the crude organic extracts (ethanol, hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate) of roots of Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl =Solanum surattense Burm. F. Extracts were active against Gram-positive bacteriaStaphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Gram-negative bacteria Erwinia chrysanthemi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pasteurella multocida. The hexane extract showed maximum inhibition against the test microorganisms (ZOI, 16 to 21 mm) followed by ethanol, methanol and chloroform extract (ZOI, 6 to 17 mm). The inhibitory activity of these extracts was found very effective as compared to ampicillin (10 µg) and erythromycin (15 µg) standard antibiotics which were used as positive controls against these tested microorganisms.

Key words: Solanum xanthocarpum, Solanaceae, antibacterial activity, disc diffusion method.