ABSTRACT

The success of chemotherapy lies in the continuous search for new drugs to counter the challange posed by resistant bacterial strains.The aqueous leaf extract of Clerodendrum serratum Linn. tradionally used in folklore medicine for the treatment of various ailments was investigated for in-vitro  antibacterial activity aganist five bacterial pathogens  namely staphylococcus hominis ATCC27844, Pseudomonas putida ATCC2021, Proteus vulgaris ATCC13315, Bacillus subtilis ATCC2063 and Escherichia coli ATCC2065.The antibacterial activity  of the aqueous extract was determined by employing agar disc diffusion method.Among the various concentrations used ,100mg/ml of aqueous leaf extract was found to be more effective against all tested microorganisms.The highest activity was recorded aganist Proteus vulgaris ATCC2021  with zone of inhibition ranging from  17±0.23mm to 23±0.24mm and the lowest activity was recorded aganist Escherichia coli ATCC2065 at a concentration of 25mg/ml with zone of inhibition  ranging from 10±0.47mm to 20±0.40mm. Therefore, it was found the inhibitory activity of aqueous leaf extract of Clerodendrum serratum Linn. was found to be concentration dependent.The results of this study provides justification  for the use of this plant in folkloric medicine for the treatment of various dreadful ailments.