Antibacterial potentiality of Mesua ferrea Linn. flowers.

The antibacterial efficacy of the methanol extract of whole flowers of Mesua ferrea Linn. was studied against various strains of bacteria. It could inhibit a large number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at concentration ranges of 100 to 50 microg/ml, or even lower, as against vibrios and Escherichia coli. In in vivo tests, used at concentrations of 100 and 200 microg/g of body weight, it offered significant protection to Swiss strain of albino mice when challenged with 50 MLD of a virulent strain Sulmonella typhimurium ATCC 6539. Mortality in mice due to these two dosages of the extract alone was insignificant. The extract at 200 microg/g body weight dosage, could significantly reduce the viable count of the strain Sulmonella typhimurium ATCC 6539 in liver, spleen and heart blood of the extract treated challenged mice. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.