Journal of Pharmacy and Alternative Medicine www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-5668 (Paper) ISSN 2222-4807 (Online) Vol. 3, No. 3, 2014 36 Research Article Assessment of antibacterial potential of Saccharum spontaneum Linn. (family: Poaceae), against different pathogenic microbes- an in vitro study. Musaddique Hussain* 1, 2 , Muhammad Razi Ullah Khan 1 , Shahid Masood Raza 1 , Abdul Aziz 2 , Hazoor Bakhsh 2 , Abdul Majeed 2 , Faiza Mumtaz 3 1 School of Pharmacy, The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan. 2 Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. 3 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan *E-mail of the corresponding author: musaddique.ph@gmail.com Accepted Date: 3 July 2014 n this study, Saccharum spontaneum (Family: Poaceae), was evaluated for its antibacterial potential against human pathogenic bacterial strains. In-vitro antibacterial tests were performed by disc diffusion method on nutrient agar, in order to analyze the percentage zone of inhibition. Whole plant’s extract showed the significant zone of inhibition (mm), against Staphylococcus aureus (17.00), Streptococcus pneumoniae (16.50), Bacillus cereus (15.90), Bacillus pumilus (15.45), Escherichia coli (18.00), Klebsiella pneumoniae (17.10), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.20) and Citrobacter freundii (14.00), with relative percentages of inhibition of 76.90, 71.60, 57.40, 56.85, 70.40, 69.90, 61.05 and 54.30 respectively. Modified agar well diffusion method was used to measure the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and MIC values lies within the range of 75 to 300μg /ml for the G+ve strains while 75 to 600μg /ml for G-ve. Due to presence of tannins and flavonoids, it inhibits the growth of bacteria on most regulatory levels such as peptidoglycan, DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. Keywords: Saccharum spontaneum, Methanolic crude extract, Antibacterial assay, Nutrient agar. 1. INTRODUCTION Traditional use of medicinal plants and its products have a long history that began with folk medicine and through the years has been incorporated into allopathic medicine (Dubey et al., 2011). Since antiquity, many plants species reported to have pharmacological properties as they are known to possess various secondary metabolites like flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, saponins, steroids, tannins, tirpenes which is therefore, should be utilized to combat the disease causing pathogens (Kamali and Amir, 2010). Side effects and the resistance against antibiotics, recently much attention has been paid to extracts and biologically active compounds isolated from plant species used in herbal medicine (Essawi and Srour, 2000). Plant-based antimicrobials represent a vast untapped source of medicines and further exploration of plant antimicrobials need to occur. Antimicrobials of plants origin have enormous therapeutic potential (Hussain et al., 2011). They are effective in the treatment of infectious diseases while simultaneously mitigating many of the side effects that are often associated with synthetic antimicrobials. Due to the increase of resistance to antibiotics, there is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobial agents. Among the potential sources of new agents, plants have long been investigated. Because, they contain many bioactive compounds that can be of interest in therapeutic. Because of their low toxicity, there is a long tradition of using dietary plants in the treatment of infectious disease in Pakistani folk medicine. Saccharum spontaneum Linn (Family: Poaceae), is referred by multiple Synonyms, i.e., Saccharum aegyptiacum Wild, Saccharum biflorum Forssk, Saccharum punctatum Schumach, and is known by vernacular name of wild sugar cane, false sugar cane, thatch grass (English), kans, kansi, kans grass (Urdu and Hindi). It is distributed throughout Asia (Kiritikar and Basu, 2005). It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading rhizomatous roots. Leaves are harsh and I brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals