PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Introduction: Maintaining proper oral health needs utmost importance as that of general health. Oral cavity can be easily infected by oral pathogens as food particles gets lodged in it. Certain symptoms in the oral cavity can be indications of severe implications, hence it is important to maintain the oral cavity in proper health. Tulsi and Turmeric are two important Indian medicinal plants that find most application in worshipping and tradition but they also   have the potential to cure many diseases and also acts as anti inflammatory, antibacterial and antibiotic. Usage of nanoparticles in the field of medicine is also a booming trend. The combination of Tulsi and turmeric with copper nanoparticles could be an effective product in controlling oral pathogens.

Materials and Methods: Dried and crushed roots of turmeric and leaves of tulasi were used in preparing the extract. Distilled water was used as solvent. 1.77 g of CuSO₄ was dissolved in the extract. After continuous stirring the extract was filtered and placed in a spectrophotometer for tracing the antimicrobial activity of the extract. After 48 hours the extract was inoculated into agar mediums containing different pathogens and the zone of inhibition was recorded.

Results and Conclusion: The prepared extract proved to have better activity than the already existing antibiotics in 3 out of the 4 pathogens studied. More research on this study with more different oral pathogens could result in a new finding of oral cleansers with Tulasi and turmeric formulations.