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The present paper deals with phytochemical screening and antimicrobial studies on Vitex quinata, one of the potential medicinal plants endemic to Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The leaves, stem bark were screened for phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activities, which revealed that the phenolic compounds es- pecially alkaloids and coumarins may be responsible for antimicrobial activities. The most susceptible microorganisms were found to be Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus. Vitex quinata could be exploited for better infection management of various diseases. Intoduction The medicinal value of plants lies in some chemical sub- strates that produce a definite physiological action on hu - man body. According to WHO report about 80% of the world population showing interest in indigenous medicinal plant remedies (1) . The use of plant extract and phytochemi- cals, with established antimicrobial properties, could be of great significance in therapeutic approaches. Therefore in - tensive investigation on traditional medicine with a view to identify and exploit safe and effective remedies for ailments of both microbial activity and microbial origin is essential. It is estimated that about 75% of the biologically active plant derived compounds, presently in use worldwide, have been derived through follow up researchers to verify the authen- ticity of data from folk and ethnomedicinal uses. So there is a great scope for new drug discoveries based on tradi- tional plant uses (2) . Phytoconstituents are the natural bioac- tive compounds, exhibit potential therapeutic properties, work with nutrients and fibers to form an integrated part of defensive system in which alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, triterpenoids, phenolics, steroids, etc considered as major constituents in crude drugs. These plant derived compounds are considered to be active against human pathogenic mi- croorganisms. In the present study Vitex quinata, most po- tential medicinal plant, used to cure different aliments like cold and cough, headache, fever and weakness of nerves, etc by local tribal people in the region. The plant sample were collected from Minumuluru forest in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, and screened against multidrug resistant bacteria including Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Candida albi- cans, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus. The ethnobotanical information obtained from the traditional herbal practitioners may serve as an initial lead for isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds. Material & methods The different parts of plant material was collected from Minu- muluru reserve forest, Visakhapatnam district and identified with the help of regional floras (3, 4, 5 ) |
