Abstract

Objective: To conduct the antibacterial potency and minimum inhibitory concentration of extracts (n-hexane, acetone, chloroform and methanol) obtained from the root, leaf and stem of Capparis zeylanica. Methods: The powdered leaf, root and stem samples were Soxhlet extracted sequentially in n-hexane, acetone, chloroform and methanol. Antibacterial potency was evaluated by following the agar diffusion method and amoxicillin disc was used as a control. Results: In vitro antibacterial activity against 12 bacteria was performed with crude extracts. Among them, all the bacteria showed the moderate activity but chloroform and methanolic extracts showed promising antibacterial potency against Staphylococcus aureus, Sarcina lutea, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae (leaf > root > stem). This activity was evaluated using disc diffusion method with a standard antibiotic, 30 µg/disc of amoxicillin. Conclusions: Strong antibacterial potency of chloroform and methanolic extracts provides new antibacterial compounds.

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