IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA AGAINST THE MICROBES ISOLATED FROM FRUIT JUICES

Abstract

The present work has been conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Terminalia chebula against microorganisms associated with juices. Methanol, ethanol, acetone, and aqueous ( hot and cold) extracts from fruits of T. chebula were tested for their antimicrobial activity through agar well diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)/minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were determined through the macrodilution broth method against Bacillus cereus, Serratia sp. and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. Their total phenolic content and total tannin content were also evaluated. Organic and cold aqueous extracts displayed activity against all three tested microbes. There were highly positive relationship between antimicrobial activities and phenolic and tannin content of the tested extracts against each microorganism. Methanolic extract was found to be best against all tested microbes with lowest MIC of 0.78 mg/ml and MBC of 1.56 mg/ml and showed better antimicrobial activity than sodium benzoate. Therefore, methanolic extract of T. chebula has a biopreservative potential in fruit juices.