Pharmacognostical and Antimicrobial Investigation of Jatropha curcas, Linn., Leaf

Jatropha curcas, Linn., is a large shrub belongs to the family of Euphorbiaceae. The present investigation aims to find out the pharmacognostical characters which includes macroscopy, histology, powder microscopy, physico chemical parameters, preliminary phytochemical screening and antibacterial potential of the leaf of Jatropha curcas, Linn., by adopting standard procedures. This present study reveals that pharmacognostical identity of this plant. Ethanol extract (25, 50 mg/ml) exhibits significant antibacterial activity against Escherchia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeroginosa and Micrococcus luteus by disc plate method using Ofloxacin as a standard (10μg/ml).