In Vitro Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties of Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Frond Extracts of Psilotum nudum, Nephrolepis biserrata and Nephrolepis cordifolia.

Plants are an important source of neutraceuticals that have proved to be effective against important microbial infections of humans. Lower plants are gaining importance in this regard. The present study is aimed at investigating the antimicrobial properties of three selected ferns, Psilotum nudum, Nephrolepis biserrata and Nephrolepis cordifolia. The aerial parts of the selected ferns, P. nudum, N. biserrata and N. cordifolia, were fractionated in different solvents. These fractions were concentrated to obtain a powder and were tested against nine bacterial and three fungal strains according to disc diffusion method. The water and ethanol fractions were active against most of the tested bacterial and fungal strains, some of these were more effective than the controls tested. Present study suggests that the pteridophytes, P. nudum, N. biserrata and N. cordifolia could be good source of antimicrobials. These natural compounds might be more effective as the microbes may have lesser chance of developing resistant mutants.