Antimicrobial activity of crude extracts from berberis asiatica stem bark

Different extracts from the stem bark of Berberis asiatica L. , a plant traditionally used to hasten the process of wound healing, and the alkaloid fractions derived from the commonly used aqueous extract, were tested for their putative antimicrobial activity against a battery of microorganisms by disk diffusion and agar dilution methods. The activity of the fractions was compared with that of berberine, the major alkaloid of the plant. While the methanolic extract was found to be most active, other fractions were also found to be superior to berberine, which suggests that in addition to berberine other antimicrobial agents are present in the plant.