Abstract

Jarul (It is also known as Banaba) is a flowering plant that grows in warm climate like the Philippines, India and others. Jarul is widely used in the Philippines and as herbal medicine for diabetes. While in India, Jarul is also used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of diabetes. The Jarul leaves and flowers contain corrosolic acid, a substance being studied for its insulin like effect of lowering the glucose in the body. Jarul is also being studied as a weight-loss supplement for its ability to delay or reduce the absorption of carbohydraes. Jarul is also rich in vitamins and minerals including zinc and magnesium. Jarul is also rich in dietary fibers. The scientific name the Jarul or Banaba is Lagerstroemia speciosa L (Lythraceae). It displayed that the leaves, bark, stem seeds of Lagerstroemia speciosa L was found to be contain several bioactive compounds such as terpenoids, steroids, saponins, flavonoids and glycosides and alkaloids etc. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of fruit (without seeds) of Lagerstroemia speciosa L. Based on this, a new series of constituents had been planned to extract by Methanol (ML), Ethanol (EL), Chloroform (CF) from the fruits of Lagerstroemia speciosa L. The in-vitro antimicrobial activity of fruit (without seeds) of Lagerstroemia speciosa L were carried out by using agar diffusion method using bacterial cultures Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 9144), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853, ) Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and fungal cultures Aspergillus niger (ATCC 9029), Aspergillus flavus (ATCC 204304), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). By observing it was found that most of the extracts executed moderate to good antimicrobial activity against the tested micro-organisms. The extracts were active against all the tested microorganism for anti bacterial activity with range of MIC values for S.aureus (MIC: 15-39 μg /ml ), E.coli ( MIC: 16-38 μg /ml) ,P.aeruginosa ( MIC:15- 39 μg /ml) and B.subtilis ( 14-39 μg /ml). The extracts were active against all the tested microorganism for anti fungal activity with the range of MIC values for A.niger (MIC :16-38 μg/ml), A.flavus (18-39 μg/ml) and C.albicans (16-38 μg/ml).

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