The medicinal plants used in skin diseases by Paliyar tribe were selected for the screening of its antimicrobial potential. The antimicrobial activities of the ethanolic extract of Alseodaphne semicarpifolia and Indigofera aspalathoides were tested against three bacterial pathogens causing skin infections viz., Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as three fungal pathogens of skin infections namely Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagraphytes by disc diffusion method. The extracts at a concentration of 100µg/ml exhibited a higher antimicrobial activity whereas lesser inhibition zone was observed at the concentration of 50µg/ml. The ethanolic extract of whole plant Indigofera aspalathoides exhibited good antimicrobial activity over the bacterial pathogens at varying levels. The ethanolic bark extract of Alseodaphne semicarpifolia showed good antimicrobial activity over the test bacterial pathogens and also on the fungal pathogens by performing the higher inhibition zone. Among the two ethnomedicinal plants tested, Alseodaphne semicarpifolia has exhibited significant antimicrobial activity in all the bacterial and fungal skin pathogens tested.
