Vol. 12, Issue 4 (2023)

Indiscriminate use of antibiotic have caused microbial resistance and also lead to many side effects to overcome from such situation plants and plant products are widely used for the treating of various ailments having antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. Therefore, present study, was undertaken to study in vitro antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activity of Achyranthes aspera extract against Pathogenic Microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella gallinarum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methanolic extract of aerial part of Achyranthes aspera were prepared and tested by “Disc Diffusion Method”. Extract of Achyranthes aspera revealed antibacterial activity against both gram‐positive bacteria (S. aureus) and gram‐negative bacteria (E. coli, Salmonella gallinarum and P. auriginosa). For the study of cell mediated immunity 18 chicks were divided into 3 treatment groups (T1, T2 and T3) 6 chicks in each replicates. Similarly, for humoral immunity study, 18 chicks were divided into another 3 treatment groups of 6 chicks in each replicates. Each bird of different groups was individually identified by using leg band. T1 (Control diet), T2 (Standard growth promoter; BMD @ 0.05% in feed), T3 (Achyranthus Aspera powder @ 20g/kg feed of drinking water) for study of immunomodulatory effect for consecutive 42 days. Preliminary phytochemical screening of AAE revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponin, and phenol Achyrantus aspera extract showed significantly higher skin thickness in DNFB skin sensitization test both at 24 hours and 48 hours after sensitization, but did not show any significant effect on humoral immune response compared to the control group. In conclusion methanolic extract of Achyranthus aspera found to have potent antibacterial activity against various pathogenic organisms and immunomodulatory activity in broiler chicks.