Comparative Antimicrobial Study of Ethanolic Extract of Leaf and Rhizome of Curcuma longa Linn

Introduction: Curcuma longa L., botanically related to ginger belongs to the Zingiberaceae family. It is extensively used in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine as a home remedy for various diseases. Aim: The present study is to compare the antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extracts from rhizome and leaf of Curcuma longa Linn. Method: In vitro disc diffusion method and serial dilution method has been used to determine the antimicrobial potency against various bacterial pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis by comparing the zone of inhibition shown by both the test extracts at different concentration (25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, 100 mg/ml, 150 mg/ml, 200 mg/ml, 250 mg/ml, 300 mg/ml) and there MIC value has been evaluated. Ethanol and Ampicillin were used as negative and positive control for the study. Result: The leaf and rhizome extract showed maximum zone of inhibition at 300 mg/ml concentration, which was about 7.6 mm and 8 mm on the bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa and least effectiveness for other bacterial strain such as Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The recorded MIC value was at 6.25 mg/ml which showed 3.991% inhibition for rhizome extract and 3.129% inhibition for leaf extract. Conclusion: The rhizome extract was found to be more potent antimicrobial agent than the leaf extract and can be used in future studies.