ISSN 2320-5407 International Journal of Advanced Research (2016), Volume 4, Issue 2, 785-791 785 Journal homepage: http://www.journalijar.com INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH RESEARCH ARTICLE PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PHYLLODIUM PULCHELLUM L. Desv. AN IMPORTANT MEDICINAL PLANT G.Velmurugan and S.P. Anand. PG & Research Department of Botany, National College (Autonomous),Tiruchirapalli – 620 001, Tamil Nadu, India. Manuscript Info Abstract Manuscript History: Received: 14 December 2015 Final Accepted: 26 January 2016 Published Online: February 2016 Key words: Phyllodium pulchellum, Microbial activity, Phytochemical screening, Fabaceae. *Corresponding Author G.Velmurugan. Present study reveals the evaluation of phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity in different solvents like Aqueous, Ethanol and Chloroform leaf of Phyllodium pulchellum (L.) Desv. The antibacterial screening was carried out by disc diffusion method using six strains of the test micro-organisms including Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 441), Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 3160), Streptococcus pyogenes (MTCC 442), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 424), Klebsiella pneumonia (MTCC 3384) and Escherichia coli (MTCC 443). The crude plant extracts showed broad spectrum activity against all bacteria. The highest inhibitory (IZ 3.4±0.52 cm) was observed in ethanolic leaf extract against Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that the ethanol leaf extract was more potent than the chloroform extract and aqueous extract. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the leaf extract was carried out and it revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steriods, terpinoids, tannins, saponins and phenol. Based on the result it could be inferred that P. pulchellum would be a reliable source for the treatment of some common diseases caused by resistant pathogens. Copy Right, IJAR, 2016,. All rights reserved. Introduction:- Medicinal herb as a potential source of therapeutic aid has a significant role in health system all over the world for both humans and animals not only in the diseased condition but also as a potential material for maintaining proper health (Pathak and Das, 2013). Plants are a rich source of diverse type of medicines in different countries and produce a diverse array of bioactive molecules, the source of potential and powerful drugs (Hemraj Vashist and Anil Jindal, 2012). Thus, natural products with pharmacological or biological activities still play a very important role in medicine (Bhore et al., 2012). Plant extract has a potential application as natural medicine and to treat diseases as well as the microbiological safety of the human health (Subashkumar et al., 2013). Medicinal plants and their parts represent a rich source of antibacterial agents. Plants are used medicinally in different countries and are a source of many potent and powerful drugs. Different extracts from traditional medicinal plants have been tested. Many reports have show the effectiveness of traditional herbs against microorganisms, as a result, plants are one of the bedrocks for modern medicine to attain new principles (Sankar kumar dey et al., 2010).They have been widely used as traditional treatments for numerous human diseases. In less developed countries low income people such as farmers, people of small isolate villages and native communities use herbal medicine for the treatment of common infections. Phylldoium pulchellum (L.) Desv. is a sub shrub belong to the family Fabaceae, sub-family (Papilionaceae) commonly known as Vellalothi is mainly distributed in deciduous to Eastern Ghat of Tamil Nadu. This plant is used as a folk medicine. Biological activity such Anthelmintic (Muckda et al., 1989), Anti-Hepatofibrotic (Yu et al., 1999), anti-inflammatory (Sadia Noor et al., 2013), Anti-diabetic activity (Asolkar et al., 1992 and Jain, 1991) and Anti-Diarrheal (Khalilur et al., 2013) have been reported only for Phyllodium pulchellum. It is used for the treatment of ulcer, malarial, fever, cold, bone pain, swelling, diarrhea, wound, eye and liver affliction. It is necessary to