2016, Vol. 4, Issue 3, Part D

author(s)
Pooja, Abhishek Kumar, Shruti Dudeja, Rohit Chauhan, Hemalata, Sunena, Vikas Beniwal, Vinod Chhokar, Anil Kumar

abstract
Medicinal plants have become part of complementary medicines worldwide and have been explored for centuries because of their potential health assistance. Recent years have revived interest in medicinal plants for drug discovery. Presently, infectious diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses and parasites are becoming a major threat to public health. Among these dental caries and periodontal diseases are the most important and most common global oral health problems. Dental caries are caused by tooth enamel demineralization by acidophilus microorganisms growing as a biofilm or plaque. Hence, extracts from different parts of six plants viz. Bougainvillea spectabilis, Cordia obliqua, Dahlia, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Bambusa arundinacea, Bombax ceiba, were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against oral pathogens. Extracts were prepared using dried plant powder dissolved in three different solvents (distilled water, methanol and ethanol). The resulting solutions were lyophilized and the powder thus obtained was dissolved in 10% DMSO. The antibacterial activity of these extracts was assessed against some cariogenic bacteria (Streptococcus mutans (MTCC No: 890), Staphylococcus aureas (MTCC No: 3160), Candida albicans (MTCC No: 183), Lactobacillus acidophilus (MTCC No: 10307), Streptococcus gordonii (MTCC No: 2695) using agar well diffusion assay. Kanamycin (100µg/ml) was used as positive control and DMSO (10%) as negative control in agar well diffusion assay. Microbial growth inhibition was determined by measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition, excluding the diameter of well. Methanolic extract of Dahlia showed antimicrobial activity against all the cariogenic bacteria used in the study. Distilled water extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis showed the largest zone of inhibition against Candida albicans and that of Bougainvillea against Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans. Ethanolic extract of Dahlia showed activity against oral microbes but zone of inhibition was comparatively smaller