Antibacterial Activity of Four Ethnomadicinal Cheilanthes Species from Northern Western Ghats of India

Objectives: To screen the antimicrobial potential of four ethno medicinal ferns in Pteridaceae family such as Cheilanthes sp.: C. farinosa, C. anceps, C. tenuifolia, and C. albomarginata which is used in folk medicines in Northern Western Ghats of India against human bacterial pathogens. Methods: Antibacterial ability was performed by disc diffusion method against the pathogens viz., Salmonella typhimurium (NCIM 2501), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (NCIM 2654), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5032) and incubated for 24 h at 37 ˚C Results: The maximum degree of antibacterial activity was observed in C.farinosa followed by, C.anceps, C.tenuifolia, whereas C. albomarginata indicated comparatively low degree of antibacterial activity. The methanolic extract of C.anceps indicated the antibacterial activity against three pathogens viz., Salmonella typhimurium (NCIM 2501), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (NCIM 2654), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5032) with the inhibition zones 12 mm, 10 mm and 9 mm, individually. Hexane extracts of C.farinosa also indicated the antibacterial activity against two selected pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (NCIM 2654), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5032) with 15 mm and 12 mm of inhibition zones. Totally the three different concentrations (0.25, 0.50 & 0.75 mg/mL) of methanolic extract of C.anceps display the inhibitory result on the three susceptible bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (NCIM 2654), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5032) through the maximum inhibition in the top concentration (0.75 mg/mL). The methanolic and Hexane extracts of C.tenuifolia exhibited the antibacterial activity against only one bacterium each i.e. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (NCIM 2654) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 5032) with the maximum zone of inhibition 13 and 11 mm respectively. The methanolic and hexane extracts of C. albomarginata exhibited the antibacterial activity against only one bacterium i.e. Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the maximum zone of inhibition 13 and 11 mm respectively. Conclusions: The present investigation revealed that the C.farinosa, C.anceps, C.tenuifolia and C. albomarginata are potentially noble source of antibacterial agents and determines the significance of such plants in the traditional medicines they may be used for medicinal determinations in future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper presenting complete data on Antibacterial Activity of Four Ethnomadicinal Cheilanthes Species from Northern Western Ghats of India.