Healing potential of plants has been known for thousands of years. Medicinal use of plants and their products was passed down from generation to generation in various parts of the world throughout its history and has significantly contributed to the development of different traditional systems of medicine. Because of available antimicrobials failure to treat infectious diseases, many researchers have focused on the investigation of natural products as source of new bioactive molecules from mangrove plants. Ceriops decandra is an evergreen tree in the inner mangrove forests in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is used in traditional medicine to cure hepatitis and ulcers. In the present study, the work carried out is mainly focussed on phytochemical screening, antibacterial activity, MIC (Minimum inhibitory concentration) and MBC (Minimum Bactericidal Concentration) studies and finally DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity. The crude extracts were prepared in different solvent extracts viz., hexane, benzene, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol. The results revealed that all most all the phytochemicals tested were positive in all the solvent extracts except soluble starch. Acetone extract showed more zone of inhibition against Micrococcus luteus and Enterobacter aerogenes than the positive control. Rhodococcus rhodochrous was inhibited by all the solvent extracts, but the positive control has not shown any action. The MIC and MBC studies of different solvent extracts exposed the antibacterial activity of C. decandra stem material, and chloroform and acetone extracts displayed better free radical scavenging activity at different concentrations. The results are showing the medicinal importance of the plant.
