ABSTRACT
The present study was carried out to identify the phytochemical constituents and to evaluate antibacterial and antifungal activity of Nilgirianthus ciliatus Linn using ethanol, chloroform, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts on selected four bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and two fungal strains Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans (Fungus-unicellular/ multicellular yeast). For the antimicrobial test, cup plate method was used and the zone of inhibition was measured in mm. The extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity and were compared with Amoxicillin and Ketoconazole. The chloroform extract showed the higher antibacterial activity with a zone of inhibition of 23mm against gram negative pathogens and minimum 15mm against Aspergillus niger from 150mcg/ml. Ethanolic and petroleum ether extracts showed similar activity with an inhibition zone of 12 and 11 mm against fungal strains Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger respectively from 150mcg/ml. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins; proteins and tannins. The powdered leaves were analyzed for various physicochemical constants also.