AJPRHC Research Article A COMPARATIVE ANTIBACTERIAL STUDY OF IXORA COCCINEA L. PLANTS WITH RED, ORANGE, PINK

For Author affiliations see end of the text This paper is available online at www.jprhc.in Eradication of pathogenic bacterial infection is the most effective means of curing several diseases and preventing recurrent episodes. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the comparative antibacterial activity of Ixora coccinea L. plants with red, orange, pink and white flowers against tested bacteria Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae. Both the methanolic and aqueous extracts of all four types of flowers exhibited considerable antibacterial activities against bacteria. The methanolic extracts of red and pink flowers exhibited high antibacterial activity whereas orange flowers showed moderate activity while white flowers showed low activity. The aqueous extracts displayed less inhibitory effects compared to the methanolic extracts. The aqueous extracts of red and pink flowers showed considerable high antibacterial activity compared to orange and white flowers. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, carbohydrates, flavonoids and tannins. Key words: Ixora coccinea, antibacterial activity, cup-plate diffusion metho