Catharanthus roseus belongs to the family Apocynaceae, is an erector procumbent herb or undershrub containing latex. It possesses known antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal, antidiabetic, anticancer and antiviral activities. In the present study we carried out the screening of this plant for its antibacterial potential adopting the antibacterial assay. The different parts of C. roseus (leaf, stem, flower and root) were used and extracts were subjected to antibacterial assay. The extracts of C. roseus did not exhibit antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, leaf, stem and flower extracts were also ineffective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The leave extract did not exhibit activity against Corynebacterium diphtheriae, similarly, the crude extract of stem did not shown activity against Shigella boydii. The most effective was the root extract, which exhibited broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi and S. boydii with the zone of inhibitions measuring 24 mm and 22 mm, respectively. The flower extract also showed activity against C. diphtheriae.
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