Inhibitory effects of leaf extract from Cymbopogon flexuosus and its impact in conjunction with antibiotics against pathogenic wound bacteria

Medicinal plants contain a plethora of bioactive metabolites that have been used in various traditional indigenous preparations as treatment modalities of multiple disorders. Cymbopogon flexuosus, also known as lemon grass, is an important medicinal plant that has been a part of Indian traditional medicines. Essential oil from lemon grass has been reported to possess antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, allelopathic and anthelmintic activity. However, potential of leaf extract from lemon grass to inhibit the pathogen isolates from the wound has not been reported. The present study was undertaken to explore the potent inhibitory activity of leaf extract of lemon grass and to investigate its synergistic effect with antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria isolated from wound. Pathogenic bacteria from wound were isolated, characterized and were used as pathogens. Interestingly, leaf extract of lemon grass exhibited much potent antibacterial activity with maximum inhibition in methanolic and ethanolic extract. Susceptibility of different available antibiotics against wound pathogenic bacteria was determined. Extracts from different solvent system were employed in conjunction with antibiotics and a synergistic effect was observed. Further, phytochemical analysis provides a detailed insight of the probable presence of phytochemical constituents in leaf extract. These findings for the first time highlights the prospective of leaf extract of lemon grass against wound associated pathogenic bacteria and also pave the path of exploring the synergistic effects with antibiotics as treatment modality.