ABSTRACT:
Curry leaves are used in traditional medicine as a source of many therapeutic agents. Curry leaves, known as Murraya koeniggi, belonging to Rutaceae family are widely used as a medicinal herb. These leaves found use in diarrhoea, dysentery and to prevent vomiting. It showed some antimicrobial activity as well as antifungal activity. Bacterial etiology of chronic diseases like periodontitis is a well-established fact. Hence, antimicrobial activity form an important part of the treatment plan. Current trend of using herbal products has taken an input of periodontal diseases. The current knowledge on role of bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in periodontal diseases is still unstable even though on microbial examination S. aureus is ought to be found in supra and subgingival calculus. Thus, this study is aimed to show the antimicrobial activity of curry leaves on S. aureus. Aim- To study the antimicrobial activity of curry leaves against Staphylococcus aureus. Materials and Methods- After collection of curry leaves, it was washed, dried and powdered.15g of dried powder of Curry leaves were macerated in ethanol, methanol and water in separate container. To this 50 ml of ethanol and water was added and kept for 24 hours with periodic shaking then filtered and collected. They are cultured with S. aureus and then culture is statistically analyzed and studied. Results-The antimicrobial activity of the curry leaves extract at 50 concentration was screened by agar well diffusion method and the zone of inhibition was measured in millimeters. Plate 1 – with water extract showed no changes except of chlorohexidine with zone of inhibition of 26 mm whereas in plate 2- with ethanolic extract shows zone of inhibition of 25 mm and chlorohexidine with 24 mm of zone of inhibition. Conclusion-Plants are believed to have potential therapeutic effect. The secondary metabolites of plants were found to be source of various phytochemicals that could be directly used as intermediates for the production of new drugs. It is important to bring about the use of herbs in dentistry to decrease the side effects of synthetic medicine. Ethanolic extract of curry leaves expressed antimicrobial activity at 50 concentration. But the exact mechanism behind is still unknown.