Bidensbiternata (Lour.)Merr. & Sheriff, belongs to the family Asteraceae, is an erect annual herb,up to 1 m height, a wide spread weed of cultivated areas. This plant is common,particularly in Western Ghats regions of Kerala state. It is used as a leafyvegetable by Paniya, Chetti, Kani and Kattunaayika tribes of Waynadu Districtsin Kerala and also to cure hepatitis, cold, cough, dysentery, asthma etc.Phytochemical constituents are responsible for medicinal activity of ethnomedicinal plant B. biternata. Hence in the present studypreliminary phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of B. biternataa medicinal plant was carried out. Qualitative phytochemical analysis ofthese plants confirm the presence of various secondary metabolites likereducing sugar, glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, steroids,terpenoids, coumarins and saponins. Antimicrobial activity of the crudemethanolic plant extract was evaluated by disc-diffusion method and revealed alow antimicrobial property.
Key words: Bidens biternata, glycosides,flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins.