Antimicrobial activity with special reference to antimycobacterial activity of the coral, Junceella delicata (Grasshoff,1999) collected from Madh island, West coast of Mumbai, India

The world now needs new antimicrobial drugs because many infections are resistant to existing treatments. Many microbial infections pose a significant global health challenge and a critical need for new, effective treatment. Soft corals are being explored for their potential as sources of new antimicrobial drugs. The present study aimed to determine the antimicrobial, antifungal, and antimycobacterial properties of the crude extract of coral Junceella delicata, collected from Madh island, Mumbai. The crude extract was prepared by adding an equal volume of methanol: dichloromethane (1:1) for 24 hours in the water bath at 45 ⁰C. The sample was filtered through Whatman filter paper No. 1 and was subjected to concentrate in a rotary vacuum evaporator at 45⁰ C. Further, antimycobacterial drugs viz. Isoniazid, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide, Rifampicin, and Streptomycin were used to compare the activity with crude extract of the coral. It was observed that Coral J. delicata extract showed a zone of inhibition against all the bacterial strains viz., Klebsiella pneumonia (15 mm), Escherichia coli (15 mm), Salmonella typhi (14 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (09 mm), Sarcina lutea (15 mm), Streptococcus pyogenes (12 mm), Corynebacterium diphtheria (27 mm), Staphylococcus aureus (28 mm), whereas antifungal activity was observed in Penicillium sp.(10 mm), Candida albicans (14 mm) and no activity was observed in Aspergillus sp. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strain showed sensitivity at (25µg/ml of coral extract, nearly close to the standard antituberculosis drug pyrazinamide (3.2µg/ml). The above results indicated that the crude extract of J. delicata had antibacterial activity nearly against the standard antituberculosis drug Pyrazinamide.The study suggests the crude extract of coral J. delicata can be used as an antimicrobial agent to cure different diseases, including tuberculosis.