Published Paper Details:

Cucurbitaceae family is also known as squash family. In India, it is represented by 84 species out of a total of 750 species of the world. Plants of this family are mostly used as vegetables, a few yield delicious summer fruits and a few are medicinal. In fact members of Cucurbitaceae form a source of a variety of compounds like alkaloids, flovonoids, terpenoids, glycosides tannins and saponins. In view of the medicinal importance of this family, the present investigation was undertaken. Cucurbita maxima is a giant pumpkin and locally called as �kaddu�. The present paper describes the findings of the antibacterial activity of this plant. The present study was conducted in the year 2016-17. The plant material was collected locally from Barwani and identified by the experts. The plants material was air-dried in shade for 60 days and powdered in a wearing blender using a mixer. The powder was stored at 40C for further analysis. The powdered material was extracted with aqueous and ethanol solvents using Soxhlet apparatus. Extraction with each solvent was carried out for 10 h. Both the solvent extracts were dissolved in 2 ml of ethanol and distilled water separately and solubility was tested. Sterile paper discs (Whatman No. 1) were dipped in the solvent extracts and aseptically placed on seeded plates. All the plates were incubated at 370C FOR 24 h. The organisms used were Bacillus subtilis (MTCC-441), Escherichia coli (MTCC-1687), Pseudomonas areogenosa (MTCC-1934), and Staphylococcus aureus (18 mm against 16 mm in aqueous extract) while all the rest three organisms selected for this study showed more inhibition zone in aqueous extract i.e. E. coli with 15 mm, Bacillus subtilis with 20 mm, and Pseudomonas areogenosa with 14 mm respectively. Thus from the present study it is inferred that Cucurbita maxima plant extracts of various solvents posses potential of folk medicinal properties. Further research work is in progress.