ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIAL OF ARGEMONE MEXICANA: AN IN VITRO STUDYMANJU BHARDWAJ, JOGINDER S. DUHAN, ASHOK KUMAR AND SUREKHAAbstract The present study was undertaken to investigate the possibility of using locally available wild plant viz. Argemone mexicana as an antimicrobial agent. Three parts of the plant viz. stem, leaf and fruit were extracted in five different organic solvents i.e., acetone, benzene, chloroform, ethanol and methanol by maceration method. Antimicrobial activity was tested against five bacterial strains, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherechia coli, Pseudomonas aurigenosa and one yeast isolate i.e. Candida albicans by agar well diffusion method. All the extracts of Argemone mexicana showed considerable antimicrobial activity against almost all the micro-organisms tested. Among the different extracts tested, chloroform extract was found to be most effective. Ethanol extract of stem and leaves of A. mexicana showed maximum activity against S. aureus and C. albicans while methanol extract showed almost negligible activity against different pathogens. The acetone extract of leaf was quite effective against P. aeruginosa (i.e., 19 mm zone) in comparison to all tested antibiotics except streptomycin. Hence ethanol extract of leaf and stem and acetone extract of leaf of A. mexicana may be used as antimicrobial agents against S. aureus, C. albicans and P. aeruginosa. Studies are in progress to isolate the active principle from these extracts.
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