Comparative Analysis of Cleistanthus collinus Aqueous Leaf Extract and Fractions for its Antibacterial Potential

Drug resistance property of disease causing pathogens is a serious issue in the field of medicine and so further attempts to search for new antimicrobial agents from plant source is the need of the hour.. The purpose of this study was to examine the preliminary phytochemicals and investigate the antibacterial potential of Cleistanthus collinus (Euphorbiaceae) aqueous extract and fractions.. C. collinus plant leaf material was dried and the hot aqueous extract was prepared. All the fractions obtained from serial and direct extraction methods were subjected to the preliminary phytochemical screening and characterization. Antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of C. collinus crude aqueous extract and its fractions were analyzed against selected pathogens.. Preliminary phytochemical screening, UV-Vis spectrum analysis clearly differentiate crude leaf extract and fractions. Among the tested plant extract and fractions, ethyl acetate and hexane fractions showed profound antibacterial activity. Serial fraction of hexane showed higher antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae (21 - 40 mm zone of inhibition and MICs 36.5 - 70.5 μg). V. cholerae was highly susceptible to all the fractions and extract of C. collinus.. Aqueous extract and its serial fractions of C. collinus exhibited bactericidal activity against tested pathogens. This study confirms the presence of promising Phyto-constituents in C. collinus leaf material which could be exploited for the further pharmacological studies to develop a drug to control the infectious disease causing pathogens..