Screening of Antimicrobial activity of Siddhar Agathiyar’s Polyherbal preparation

Introduction: Siddha system of medicine is one of the ancient traditional system of medicines, which was originated by Siddhars.Siddha practitioners successfully handle thirty-two internal as well as external form of medicines. Chooranam is one of the internal medicines in powder form. Kabasura Chooranam is a Siddha poly herbal formulation, taken from Agasthiyar Vaidhya Deva Ragasiyam - 4th part, which has been indicated for respiratory ailments. It contains equal proportions of herbal drugs such as Thippili (Pipper longum), Kadukkai (Terminalia chebula), Nelli Vatral (Phyllanthus emblicus) and Thandrikkai (Terminalia bellerica). Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Kabasura Chooranam against various microorganisms such as Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Psuedomonus, Escherichia coli and Proteus. Methods: The medicine was tested for antimicrobial activity using Muller Hinton agar (MHA) media by disc diffusion method. Result: The study revealed that the test drug has significant inhibiting activity against Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli. The individual ingredients of Kabasura chooranam contains the following active principles like piperine, myrobalan, chebuinic acid, chebulagic acid, gallic acid, phenolic compounds, saponins, ascorpic acid, antraquinone glycoside, arjungenin and many other compounds which are responsible for its antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: The pharmacological activity of these plants could be a possible scientific source to obtain effective herbal medicines with antimicrobial potential to treat various infectious diseases.