In vitro antimicrobial efficacy of leaf essential oils of Chukrasia tabularis Adr Juss and Melia dubia Cav (Meliaceae).

The essential oils of Chukrasia tabularis and Melia dubia were tested for their antimicrobial activity against ten different pathogenic microorganisms responsible for human pathologies using standard antimicrobial assays. Chukrasia tabularis leaf oil exhibited strong antibiotic activities against Proteus vulgaris and Fusarium oxysporum and did not show any activity against the tested bacteria. Melia dubia leaf essential oil exhibited bacteriostatic and fungistatic activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Fusarium oxysporum and Candida albicans respectively. The inhibitory activities of both essential oils are comparable with that of respective standards. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.