Determination of antibacterial, antifungal activity and chemical composition of essential oil portion of unani formulation kulzam

Kulzam is a popular unani, liquid formulation; indicated for several minor ailments like cough, cold, running nose, sore throat, insect bites, earache, tooth ache, etc. by the manufacturer. However, this over the counter formulation has not been scientifically evaluated for its claimed uses. Hence in the present study an attempt has been to check the chemical composition, antibacterial and antifungal activity as most of the above-mentioned conditions are underpinned by microbial activity. The antibacterial and antifungal activity of the formulation was carried out on human pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aerogenousa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium and fungi Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigates and was compared with standards ciprofloxacin and clotrimazole. Kulzam exhibited strong in vitro inhibition of growth against all the test micro-organisms at both 100 and 150 μl levels of undiluted formulation (test sample) and more than that of standard at 150 μl level. The chemical composition of essential oil of the formulation was determined by gas chromatography−mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. Thirteen compounds constituting about 93.56% of the essential oil were identified. The main components were Camphor, menthol, thymol, 2-propenal 3-phenyl-, eugenol, trans-caryophyllene, p-allylanisole, linalool, eucalyptol, l-limonene, 1-methyl-2-isopropylbenzene, and 1S-alpha-pinene. The outcome of this study shows that kulzam contain terpenes and their oxygenated derivatives, which are believed to be highly effective antibacterial, antifungal, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, spasmolytic and  immunomodulatory agents. The formulation has been found to possess strong antibacterial and antifungal properties, and it becomes very difficult to pin point the specific compound responsible for studied activities. However, the study positively motivates the use of kulzam for common ailments.