Phytochemical Screening and in vitro Antibacterial Activity of Kyllinga nemoralis Aqueous and Methanolic Root Extracts

The present study focused to explore the phytochemical composition and in vitro antibacterial potential of Kyllinga nemoralis aqueous and methanolic root extracts. The antibacterial activities of K. nemoralis aqueous and methanolic root extracts were tested against five Gram positive and four Gram negative bacteria strains. Disk diffusion method was performed to evaluate antibacterial activities of the both extracts. K. nemoralis aqueous and methanolic root extracts showed a potent antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria strains. The methanolic root extract of K. nemoralis showed efficiency against S. aureus, MRSA, S. pyogenes, S. sonnei, E. coli and K. pneumoniae while the aqueous extract of K. nemoralis was found to possess antibacterial activity against S. aureus and MRSA. This activity seems to be related to the phytochemicals (saponins) detected into the aqueous extract and phytochemicals (terpenoid and steroid) in methanolic extract. The results confirm that root extracts of K. nemoralis can be used as a drug to fight infections caused by the broad-spectrum bacteria strains. Keywords Kyllinga nemoralis, Phytochemical Analysis, Disk diffusion, Antibacterial Activity, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration.