Petroleum ether, chloroform, benzene, methanol and ethanol extracts from Solanum nigrum were investigated for their in vitro antimicrobial activities. A total of six organisms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Shigella, Proteus and Pseudomonas were studied using well diffusion and Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC method). The results showed that all the four extracts had antibacterial effects. Solanum nigrum belonging to the solanaceae family was different in terms of its antibacterial activity. The present study showed MIC of Solanum nigrum as 0.072 g. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of reducing sugars, anthraquinones, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides.

Quite a number of synthetic antimicrobial agents are known to be of use in reducing the population of the non-desirable microbes, although with varying degrees of success. There is a need to explore natural herbs with probable antimicrobial potentials against dangerous microbes. Plant-based drugs have been used worldwide in traditional medicines for treatment of various diseases. The pharmacology provides an alternative approach for the discovery of antimicrobial activity agents, namely, the study of medicinal plants with the history of traditional use as a potential source of substance with significant pharamacological and biological activities such as antioxidant (Ambasta, 1992).

The systemic screening of antimicrobial plant extracts represents a continuous effort to find new components with the potential to act against multiresistant pathogenic bacteria, Phytochemical studies have attracted the attention of plant scientists due to the development of new and sophisticated techniques. These techniques played a significant role in the search for additional resources of raw material for pharmaceutical industry. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and appropriately called the botanical garden of the world (Alston and Turner, 1963).

Solanum nigrum (Figure 1) is commonly known as black night shade. Makory and Deadly night shade in ayurveda belongs to the family solanaceae. The leaves strongly promote perspiration, purge the bowels the next day. The juice of the fresh herb is sometimes used for fever and to allay pain. In large doses, black night shade can cause serious but usually not fatal poisoning. Externally, the juice or ointment prepared from the leaves can be used for skin problems and tumors. The berries are poisonous, but boiling apparently destroys the toxic substances and makes them useful as preservatives in jams and pies (Dahanukar and Thathe, 2000).

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