ABSTRACT
Infectious diarrhoea is an emergent problem in both developing and developed countries for high rates of mortality in infants. In recent years, drug resistance to microbial pathogens has been commonly reported from all over the world. Medicinal plants represent a rich source of antimicrobial agents. Plants are used medicinally in different countries especially in India and are a source of many potent and powerful drugs. This study was aimed to explore the bioactive antimicrobial compounds present in Cinnamon zeylanicum, which is used as a spice in Indian foods. The aim of this study was to carry out Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy studies and to determine the antimicrobial activity of Cinnamon zeylanicum extract against some common microbial pathogens isolated from diarrhoeal patients. The extract was prepared by the method of maceration using methanol as extraction solvent. The antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion method at the concentration 200, 100, 50, 25 and 10 mg/ml against E. coli, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella dysenterae, Shigella flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia and the fungi Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei which are isolated from the paediatric diarrhoeal samples. Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy studies were performed to identify the bioactive compounds. The methanol extract was found very sensitive against all the isolated organisms. The preliminary phytochemical screening shows the presence of carbohydrate, glycosides, phenolic compounds, tannins, terpenes and proteins. The GC/MS study on the active principles shows the presence of 38 components. This study shows that the Cinnamon zeylanicum extract exhibit high antifungal activity as compared with antibacterial activity. The most identified compound by GC/MS to have antimicrobial property were monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, aromatic aldehydes and ketones. Cinnamaldehyde was the major compound responsible for the antimicrobial activity