Antidiarrhoeal and antimicrobial activities of the Methanolic extract of the flowering tops of Rosa damascena

The present study was carried out to investigate possible antidiarrhoeal and antibacterial activities of methanolic extract of the flowering tops of Rosa damascena. Antidiarrhoeal activity of the methanolic extract of the flowering tops of Rosa damascena was tested by castor oil induced diarrhoea in mice, it increases mean latent period and decreased the frequency of defecation significantly and dose dependently at the doses of 250 mg/kg (P < 0.005) and 500 mg/kg (P < 0.001) body weight comparable to the standard drug loperamide at the doses of 50 mg/kg body weight. The antimicrobial activity was investigated against two Gram positive and nine Gram negative bacteria by using disc diffusion method. The methanolic extract showed moderate antimicrobial activity against Gram positive bacteria namely Staphylococcus aureus, and Gram negative bacteria namely Escherichia coli, Shigella boydii, Shigella flexneri, Enterococci spp, and Samonella typhi in dose dependant manner. The present study clearly supports the medicinal value of this plant. The overall results indicate the possibility of presence of some active principles in the plant extract possessing antidiarrhoeal and antibacterial actions.