ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CITRUS SINENSIS PEEL EXTRACTS AGAINST STREPTOCOCCUS AGALACTIAE ISOLATED FROM PLEURAL FLUID

The recent past has shown the increasing evidences indicating the role of traditional plants in the prevention of many diseases. The effectiveness of these medicinal plants mostly depends on the presence of several bioactive constituents that produces a raid action against many bacterial pathogens in a conventional application form. Also, due to the lesser side effects of these plants along with their therapeutic benefits, their usage has been increased thus serving as a crucial source of many ancient medicines. The present study was intended to evaluate the efficacy of the Citrus sinensis peel extracts against Streptococcus agalactiae isolated from pleural fluid. The analysis of the result for the antibacterial activity was found to be more effective with the methanolic extract with an inhibition zone of 14.0±0.1 mm than the ethyl acetate peel extract which showed a relatively less inhibition zone of 11.0±0.1mm respectively. As the methanolic extract of the plant showed good zone of inhibition against the test organism (Streptococcus spp.) therefore, it may be recommended that isolation of the bio-active components is needed for further research using animal model.