Balneo Research Journal DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12680/balneo.2015.10100 Vol.6, No.3, Septembrie 2015 168 Phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity of aqueous leaf extract of Punica granatum Manoj Kumar 1,2 , Sukumar Dandapat 2 , Manoranjan Prasad Sinha 2 2 Department of Zoology, Ranchi University, Ranchi 834008, Jharkhand (India) 1 Address for correspondence: Department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi – 834001, Jharkhand (India) Abstract In the present study the leaves of Punica granatum were subjected to phytochemical screening and the impact of the leaf extract of Punica granatum was tested against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of various phytochemicals such as alkaloids, tannins, phenols, flavonoid and saponins. Agar disk diffusion method was employed to test the antibacterial activity and the result showed that the aquesous leaf extract of Punica granatum showed 100% inhibition against all the tested bacteria at varying concentration of extract. The Minimum Inhbitory Concentration (MIC) of Punica granatum aqueous leaf extract that showed 100% inhibition was 0.36 mg/ml, 0.13 mg/ml and 0.13 mg/ml in case of Bacullus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi respectively. Key words: Punica granatum, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, MIC. Introduction Natural products are the source of synthetic and traditional medicine. Phytochemicals are compounds occurring naturally in plants. The use of plants and plant products as medicines could be traced as far back as beginning of human civilization. Plant extracts and compounds derived from plants are in use as drug from the ancient times [1]. The Indian subcontinent has a rich flora of various plants used in traditional medical treatments [2]. These plants contain different bioactive ingredients used to cure disease or relieve pain [3]. Punica granatum L., commonly known as pomegranate, is a fruit bearing deciduous shrub or small tree, native to Asia and belongs to family Lathraceae (Altuner, 2011) [4]. the leaves are shiny and about 7.6 cm long [5]. Different parts of plants such as leaves, bark, and fruit have medicinal significance [6]. Punica granatum has been used as traditional medicine in many countries for the treatment of dysentery, diarrhoea, helminthiasis, acidosis, hemorrhage etc. [7]. Numerous phytochemical constituents have been reported to be present in different parts of the Punica granatum plant, which makes it medicinally important. Owing to the above apprehensions the present study was undertaken to screen the phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of aqueous leaf extract of Punica granatum. Materials and Methods PLANT MATERIALS: the fresh tender leaves of Punica granatum was collected. The leaves were washed with deionised water and disinfected with 0.1% HgCl2 solution for 5 min and dried in shade away from light for 15 days and ground to fine powder using electrical grinder and sieved [8,9] PREPARATION OF PLANT EXTRACT: the fine powder of Punica granatum was made into thimble for loading in Soxhlet apparatus and extraction was done continuously for 72 hours. The extract thus obtained was concentrated under vacuum rotary evaporator and extracts were kept in desiccators until used [10, 11] PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING: phytochemical screening