SCREENING OF ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES OF Urginea indica kunth

Plant extracts are used in treatment of various dieases, and this generally forms the basis for many traditional systems of medicine. Plant extracts used as antimicrobials have significant effects. Urginea indica is one such indigenous plant which belongs to family Asparagaceae. It is commonly known as wild onions. Urginea indica bulbs are very popular in traditional medicine and have a wide range of applications. The present study aims to focus on the antibacterial properties of the bulbs of Urginea indica kunth. The plant bulbs was collected from Udupi andTatguni estates in Karnataka.The bulbs was extracted with aqueous,methanol petroleum ether and acetone solvents.These extracts were screened for in-vitro antibacterial activity by well diffussion method against five gram- negative bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum, Xanthomonas citri, Xanthomonas oryzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli and two gram- positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The results showed that gram-negative bacteria Xanthomonas oryzae, Ralstonia solanacearum and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were more susceptible to methanolic,and acetone extracts than of gram- positive bacteria. The aqueous extract of the bulbs did not show any inhibitory activity against any of the pathogens. The inhibition of gram negative bacteria suggests the presence of broad spectrum antimicrobial potentiality of the plant. The highest inhibitory activity index was recorded in the methanol extracts of Xanthomonas oryzae and Ralstonia solanacearum.