Pharmacognostical and Antimicrobial Studies of the Stem Barks of Prosopis cineraria (L) Druce

Prosopis cineraria (L) Druce is one of the highly valued plant in the Indigenous System of Medicine. Its bark is said to be a potent drug for several ailments such as leprosy, dysentery, bronchitis, asthma, leucoderma, piles, muscular tremors, asthma, rheumatism and inflammations. It is also known to possess anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticancer activities. In view of its medicinal importance, the present research was focused on the pharmacognostical and antimicrobial properties of stem bark of P. cineraria by in vitro approach. Pharmacognostic investigation of the fresh, powdered and anatomical sections of the stem barks of P. cineraria was carried out to determine its macroscopical and microscopical characters along with the physico-chemical and preliminary phytochemical analysis. The antimicrobial activity of ethyl acetate and hydro alcoholic extracts of stem barks were evaluated against two Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis), two Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacterial strains and two fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus) by agar disc diffusion method. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) required for cessation of microbial growth was evaluated by agar streak dilution method. Both the extracts showed dose dependent activity against the microorganisms investigated. The hydroalcoholic extract exhibited significant activity against the test organisms than the ethyl acetate extract.