Research Article Details

Abstract

A hunt for structurally varied and mechanistically new antimicrobial compounds from medicinal plants with ethnopharmacological histories has escalated due to antibiotic resistance. Phyllanthus niruri and Vitex negundo, extensively used medicinal herbs, include flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, lignans, terpenoids, iridoids, and volatile compounds. This comparative evidence-based study compares phytochemical characterisation and antimicrobial susceptibility evaluation to determine the antibacterial potential of bioactive substances from P. niruri and V. negundo. Genuine plant material, solvent fractionation, preliminary phytochemical screening, chromatographic profiling, agar diffusion assays, broth microdilution for MIC, MBC, biofilm, and mechanistic assays are used in the proposed experimental design. P. niruri extracts inhibit Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Bacillus cereus, according to research. Recently, LC–MS and GC–MS studies have linked its action to flavonoids, tannins, phenolics, and other semi-polar substances Compounds like negundoside and flavonoid derivatives have been studied for their antibacterial efficacy against S. aureus, B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, and other intestinal pathogens. However, extraction methods, plant sections, chemical profiles, microbial strains, and antimicrobial outcomes vary, making direct comparison difficult. Therefore, both species are attractive sources of antibacterial phytochemicals, but crude extracts cannot replace antibiotics. Translation into pharmacological, food-preservation, or topical uses requires standardised extraction, compound-level characterisation, MIC/MBC determination, toxicity testing, and mechanistic validation.

Keywords: Phyllanthus niruri; Vitex negundo; antimicrobial activity; phytochemicals; flavonoids; minimum inhibitory concentration; medicinal plants.