Hamdard Medicus Vol. 59, No. 4, 2016 Antimicrobial Efficacy of Hibiscus schizopetalus (Mast) Hook Hina Zahid*1, 2 and Ghazala H. Rizwani1, 3 Department of Pharmacognosy Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences: 1University of Karachi, 2Dow University of Health Sciences, 3Hamdard University, Karachi, Pakistan. *Email:
[email protected] Abstract Keywords Plants are an important source of Antimicrobial, Hibiscus schizopetalus antimicrobial products, most of them are (Mast) Hook, methanolic extract, agar well efficacious against diverse organisms including diffusion and dilution methods. fungi, yeasts and bacteria, insects and nematodes. The present study was aimed at 1. INTRODUCTION measuring the antimicrobial effects of Resistance to antibiotics is one of the methanolic extract of flower and leaves of major problem facing public health world- Hibiscus schizopetalus (Mast) Hook. wide (Byarugaba, 2004; Okeke et al., 2005). It Antibacterial and antifungal activities of is a natural consequence of the adaption of H. schizopetalus extracts (HFE and HLE) infectious pathogens to antimicrobials used in were evaluated by the agar well diffusion and several areas, including medicine, food animals, agar dilution methods, respectively . The flower crop production and disinfectants in farms, extract of H. schizopetalus (HFE) revealed hospital and households (Bloomfield, 2002; antibacterial activity against Streptococcus McEwen and Fedorka-Cray; 2002; Vidaver, pyogenes, S. faecalis, Enterobacter 2002; Wise and Soulsby 2002). Bacteria have aerogenes and Proteus vulgaris with zone of developed resistance to all known antibiotics inhibition of 5 mm, 9 mm, 3 mm, 6 mm, and, as so, the economic burden associated with respectively. The extracts (HFE and HLE) these multidrug-resistant bacteria is high. In showed prominent activity against human order to find novel antimicrobial agents with pathogens Aspergillus flavus, A.