IN VITRO SCREENING OF ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OBTAINED FROM FICUS LYRATA WARB. (MORACEAE) LEAVES

In the current investigation, screening of ethanolic extract obtained from Ficus lyrata leaves against pathogenic bacteria has been done in order to assess the antimicrobial activity aimed at detecting new sources of antimicrobial agents. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was determined using agar disc diffusion method. The antibacterial activity of leaf extract of F. lyrata was tested against human pathogenic bacteria — both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae) and Gram-negative strains (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli). The results of this study provide evidence that the ethanolic extract of F. lyrata leaves has a mild antimicrobial activities, apparently, attributed to the presence of various secondary metabolites, which confirm the traditional use of this plant for the treatment of diseases caused by pathogens. These data allow us to suggest that the extracts of F. lyrata can be used to discover antibacterial substances for developing new pharmaceuticals to control clinically important pathogens responsible for severe disorders.