Antibacterial Activity of Ocimum sanctum Linn. and its application in Water Purification

A vast rural Indian population is dependent on the supply of untreated water, which is the root cause of their ailments. The rural population is thriving on the contaminated water supply due to lack of financial resources and other pressing essentialities of life. Safe water is vital for improving the health and quality of life and for alleviating poverty. In the process of developing a plant based substitute for economical safe approach for water purification against conventional chemical constituents, plants were screened for evaluation of their efficiency for antibacterial activity. Ocimum sanctum is effective against Escherichia Coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas pyocyaneus, Vibrio Cholerae, Shigella dysenteriae and Proteus Vulgaris within specified contact time. O. sanctum is effective against Escherichia Coli with increase in specified contact time.