ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF NERIUM OLEANDER L. AND NICOTIANA TABACUM L.: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The antimicrobial activity of aqueous ethanolic extract of two plant species i.e. Nerium oleander L. and Nicotiana tabacum L. from Multan district were checked, against three pathogenic bacteria viz: Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive), Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; (gram negative). Disc diffusion technique was used to check the antimicrobial activity. The bacterial strains under question were found susceptible to plant extracts. Nerium oleander and Nicotiana tabacum exhibited strong antibacterial action against tested bacteria. The ethanolic extract of Nerium oleander leaves showed highest antibacterial action against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 900mg/ml concentration, whereas, Nicotiana tabacum showed maximum zones of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus at 900mg/ml concentration. The results showed that the leaves extracts of these plants have great power as anti-microbial agents against these common bacterial isolates. However, for future pharmacological implication of these plants more research is needed for the isolation of active ingredient of these plants. The results obtained could be attributed to the differential environmental conditions on the ecology of these plants.