Antimicrobial efficacy of azadirachta indica and leucas aspera in comparison to commercial antibiotics

Infectious diseases are one of the major problems in developing as well as developed countries. Plants produce a diverse range of natural products that have long been providing important drug leads for infectious diseases. Azadirachta indica Linn. (Neem) is a tree which has been found to possess antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour properties and is also used as a pesticide. Leucas aspera Link (Donokolosh) has also been found to have antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic effect. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Azadirachta indica and Leucas aspera by using disc diffusion method. Clinical bacterial isolates such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp. and Staphylococcus aureus were used as test organisms. Acetone extract of Azadirachta indica and methanolic extract of Leucas aspera were used.