Pharmacognostic and pharmacological evaluation of ruellia tuberosa L.

Ruellia tuberosa Linn. of family Acanthaceae was studied to investigate the microscopical, vein islet and vein termination numbers, palisade ratio, stomatal index and different chemical parameters. The antibacterial, antifungal and phytotoxic activities of the crude extract of the plant were also determined. Five bacterial species were used, of which, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most susceptible bacterial species to crude extract with MICs 10, 4.0 and 14mg/ml, respectively. Among the tested fungal species Fusarium solani and Aspergillus niger were more susceptible to crude extracts with MICs 1.34, 2.78 and 1.45 micro g/ml, respectively. At the concentration of 1000 micro g/ml the methnolic extract exhibited significant activity, at 100 micro g/ml the activity was good and at 10 micro g/ml the activity was moderate against Lemna minor. The above selected plants were shown by in vitro assays to be a potential source for natural antifungal, antibacterial and phytotoxic agents

Mycorrhizal Status of Elettaria cardamomum [L.] Maton

Roots and rhizospheric soil of Elettaria cardamomum was collected to find out its mycorrhizal status. It had 90% Arbuscular Mycorrhizal infection. Stained roots showed low external [10%] and internal [6%] hyphal infection. Heavy Arbuscular [86%] and low vesicular [20%] infections were noticed. In the rhizospheric soil, four species of Glomus and one species of Acaulospora were identified