Abstract

Salsola kali is an annual herb, found near the Bahawalpur (Cholistan desert) South Punjab, Pakistan. Extract of aerial part of the plant in methanol was tested for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus mutans and Sarcina lutae. Methanol was found to be best antimicrobial solvent. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of methanolic extract was determined and found to be bactericidal in concentration of 0.5 µg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus, S. pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus mutans. Synergistic antibacterial activity of methanolic extracts was tested with respective solvent extracts of aerial parts of the Heliotropium strigosum, Galium asperuloides and Senecio chrysanthemoides synergistically showed best antibacterial activity against all the bacteria (0.5 µg/ml). The extract of Salsola kali and the methanolic extract of Galium asperuloides showed best activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus mutans (0.5µg/ml). Synergistically Salsola kali with Senecio chrysanthemoides showed best activity against all the bacterial strains (0.5µg/ml) except S. lutae and S. mutans . Salsola kali with Heliotropium strigosum showed best activity against E. coli, S. pneumoniae, B. subtilis, S. lutae and S. mutans (0.5µg/ml) and inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.