Medicinal plants have an appreciable value in the development of modern therapeutics. In the present study ethanolic extracts from the leaves of nine selected medicinal plants, including Calendula arvensis, Dodonaea viscosa, Olea europaea, Ficus carica, Otostegia limbata, Withania somnifera, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Mentha longifolia and Cannabis sativa were assessed against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella species and Staphylococcus aureus using agar well diffusion method. All the selected bacterial pathogens are the major causative agent of human infectious diseases. Plant extracts used in the present study have shown potential activity against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Salmonella species and S. aureus while inhibitory activity was exhibited against Klebsiella species. In comparison to ampicillin most of the plants showed increased activity against P. aeruginosa. Among the nine plant extracts, the Ficus carica showed highest activity against all the pathogens while exhibited increased activity (29 ± 1 mm) against P. aeruginosa as compared to ampicillin (6 ± 1 mm). The medicinal potential of selected plants was for the first time tested against a set of infectious disease pathogens and have shown remarkable activity. Further phytochemical analysis will be helpful for the future elucidation of novel therapeutic agents from these plants.
