Antibacterial Activity of Methanolic extract of Indian bay leaves (Cinnamomum tamala) against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance is one of the major problems nowadays, thus a lot of efforts have been made to discover new chemicals, especially herbs, to develop new antibacterial drugs. In this regard, the reputed Medicinal plant, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are two commonly found pathogens that the Indian bay leaf (Cinnamomum tamala) was examined for possible antibacterial action against. To ascertain the antibacterial effect of methanolic extract of Indian bay leaf (MLE) against the aforementioned bacteria, this experimental study was carried out from July 2019 to June 2020 at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in collaboration with the Department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College, Bangladesh. By employing the disc diffusion and broth dilution methods, the antibacterial activity was examined at various concentrations (20, 10, 5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.625 mg/ml) of methanolic extract. The test microorganisms were also tested for their activity against a standard antibiotic Gentamicin (80 mg) by broth dilution method and the result was compared with that of Methanolic extracts. Using the disc diffusion approach, an inhibitory effect that was dose-dependent was seen against the test organisms. At a dosage of 20 mg/ml, the highest zones of inhibition against S. aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were 21 mm and 26 mm, respectively. The MICs of MLE were 5mg/ml and 7.5mg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa respectively. This result was also compared against a standard antibiotic Gentamicin where the MICs of Gentamicin were lower in comparison to the MICs of MLE. The current investigation revealed that methanolic extracts of leaves have antibacterial properties against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The study shows that Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are specifically affected by the methanolic extract of Cinnamomum tamala leaves' antibacterial properties. Additional research is necessary to identify and pinpoint the physiologically active components in Cinnamomum tamala that are responsible for this antibacterial action.