Antimicrobial Activity of Ethyl Acetate, Chloroform and Deionized Water Extract of Leaves of Pteris Cretica

Abstract

Man is constantly in contact with microorganisms. The human pathogenic, as well as microflora, is developing resistance due to different reasons. Microbial resistance is an uprising threat to human life. Microbial resistance is the primary reason for the increased infections and death rates in developing and underdeveloped countries. With the fast-growing resistance, the old and modern antibiotics are getting ineffective. This urged the need to search for new antimicrobial agents. The study aims to find the antimicrobial activity of Pteris cretica fern. The water extract, Plant heavy- biomaterial, chloroform extract and ethyl acetate extract antimicrobial activity was tested against five bacterial strains E.coli, Shigella, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and one fungal strain, Candida albicans, using the agar well diffusion method. The Pteris cretica showed significant antimicrobial activity against all studied microorganisms. The results indicate that Pteris cretica could be a new and efficient source for the drug, which could be used as a therapeutic agent.