Abstract

Essential oils of Rhododendron anthopogon, Artemisia vulgaris,  Zanthoxylum armatum,Acrous calamus, Cinnamomum glaucescens, Nardostachys grandiflora and Abies spectabilis are studied for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities, and are evaluated with standard antibiotics for the synergistic potentiality against human pathogenic bacteriaStaphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Klebsilla pneumonia. Antibacterial activity was performed by cup-plate method and cytotoxicity was evaluated by brine shrimp lethality test. Essential oils of C. glaucescens, R. anthopogon and Z. armatum were found to have higher antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus and K. pneumonia, respectively. The best synergism of R. anthopogon oil and erythromycin was found in 20,000 µg/20 µl. Similarly, synergism of essential oil was done in four different concentration (20000/20, 10000/20, 5000/20, 2500/20, 1000/20, 500/20, 250/20 and 125 µg/20 µl). The best result was shown in 125 µg/20 µl against E. coli.

Key words: High altitude medicinal plants, essential oils, human pathogen, bacteria, cytotoxicity.