eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 0973-1245 2016-04-22 5 2 815 817 8467 article A. Vijayakumar 1 V. Ramnath 2 A. Marie Arockianathan 2 S. Arokiyaraj 3 Francis P. Xavier 1 Department of Chemistry, Loyola College, Chennai - 34 (India). Department of Biochemistry, St. Joseph’s College, Cuddalore (India). Department of Biotechnology, Loyola College, Chennai - 34 (India) The present study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial activity and phytochemical analysis of Piper nigrum. Ethanol and aqueous extracts were obtained and their antibacterial activity was carried out using disc diffusion method with gram positive and gram negative strains. The result indicated that ethanol extract was most active while aqueous extract was highly inactive. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids and carbohydrates. This study showed that ethanol extract of P. nigrum could be a potential source of new antibacterial agents https://www.biotech-asia.org/vol5no2/antibacterial-activity-of-piper-nigrum-an-in-vitro-study/ Antibacterial; medicinal plant; secondary metabolites