ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS ON RESPIRATORY TRACT PATHOGENS
The study was designed to characterize the bacteria isolated from the respiratory tract of RTI patients considering their health status. Swab samples were aseptically collected and were cultured on nutrient agar and blood agar media for isolation of bacteria and identified according to their morphology, staining, motility, cultural and biochemical properties. The bacterial flora observed in the throat swab of RTI patients with their percentage of distribution were Klebsiella spp (27%), Salmonella spp (18%), Streptococcus spp (14%), Bacillus spp (9%), Escherichia coli (9%), Enterobacter spp (5%), Shigella spp (5%), Staphylococcus spp (5%), Alcaligenes spp (5%) and Serratia spp (5%) in order of ranking. Anti-microbial activity of three medicinal plants Acacia arabica (Babul), Calotropis procera (Akra) and Saraca asoca (Ashoka) on these Respiratory tract pathogens was investigated. Results obtained from the susceptibility testing of the organisms revealed that among the tested three medicinal plants, methanolic extract of Saraca asoca (Ashoka) possess potential antibacterial activity against Streptococcus (28mm), Escherichia (25mm) and Klebsiella (25mm) and Staphylococcus (21mm).