Antibacterial Activities of Cassia angustifolia Leaf Ethanolic Extract against Various Multiple Drug Resistant Microorganisms

Cassia angustifolia (Indian Senna), a plant from the Fabaceae family, is an important medicinal plant of India and it is drought tolerant, hence it is cultivated under rain fed condition in marginal soils by small and marginal farmers of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and other Indian states. In this study, the antibacterial activities of ethanolic extract of Cassia angustifolia leaves were assessed against ATCC microorganisms - gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC 25923). The result showed that C. angustifolia leaf extracts exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against both tested ATCC microorganisms. In this plant, Resin, Phenol, Coumarins, Alkaloids, Saponin, Steroid, etc, the phytochemical contents and the laxative principle Sennoside A and Sennoside B (two crystaline glucosides), which may be responsible for the observed antimicrobial activities. From these findings, we suggest that C. angustifolia (Indian senna) may be a possible source of natural antimicrobial agents, which could be used to develop new drugs for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Further studies on C. angustifolia on a large scale may open a new scope for other researchers to carry it.