Antimicrobial Activity of Shilajit

Aliya Hayat1*, Fatima Sher Ali1

1Department of Microbiology, Jinnah University for Women, Karachi – 74600.

ABSTRACT

Shilajit is a pale-brown to blackish-brown exudation of variable consistency, exuding from layers of
rocks in the mountainous ranges of this world, especially Himalayan and Hindu Kush ranges of Indian
subcontinent. The aim of study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of shilajit against different
microorganisms. The diluted sample (80%) was used to find the activity which was assessed by agar
well diffusion method. The microbial inhibition was more effective. Among all species, Candida albicans
was found to be highly susceptible while Acinetobater was highly resistant. Other bacterial species
were also susceptible to this material. Shilajit not only helps to overcome physiological activities of
human, but can also protect the body by inhibiting the pathogenic organism of respiratory and
gastrointestinal tract. This indicates that shilajit contain antimicrobial compounds to control pathogens.

Keywords: Shilajit, agar well diffusion, susceptible

INTRODUCTION

Shilajit is also known as salajit, shilajatu, mumie or
mummiyo (Cornejo et al., 2011) means "winner of
rock" (Mukherjee, 1992) or "sweat of the rock"
(Tirtha, 1998). It has a unique composition as a
phytocomplex. It is very rich in fulvic acid, elagic
acid, some fatty acids, resins, latex, gums, albumins,
triterpenes, sterols, aromatic carboxylic acids, 3,4-
benzocumarins, amino acids, polyphenols and
phenolic lipids (Chopra et al., 1958).There are four
different varieties of shilajit which have been
described in charka samhita, namily savrana, rajat,
tamra and lauha shilajit (Agarwal et al., 2007).
It is a compact mass of vegetable organic matter
composed of a dark-red gummy matrix interspersed
with vegetable fibers, sand and earthy matter (Chopra
et al., 1958). Traditionally, Shilajit was believed to
be a general restorative tonic, meaning it helps fight
a range of illness and is also taken to maintain good
health. Variety of benefits was reported that is against
common colds, ulcers, cancers and act as antiviral
agent. It has great affinity for human viruses.

Literature about the antimicrobial activity of shilajit
is lacking. Therefore, present study was conducted
to identify the antimicrobial potential of shilajit
(black shilajit/lauha shilajit) against Gram positive,
Gram negative and yeast species. It was found that
this black rock has distinct antifungal activity than
any other bacteria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Shilajit sample was purchase from a local market of
Gilgit, Pakistan. The processed sample was diluted
in sterile distilled water to make 80% solution. The
sample was filtered through whattman filter paper
and filtrate was stored under refrigeration condition
until use.

Twenty five pure cultures of bacterial and fungal
species were collected from culture bank of
Department of Microbiology, Jinnah University for
Women. Among them 13 were Gram negative, 8
were Gram + and 4 were Candida species.  Microbial
susceptibility was determined by agar well diffusion
method (Betoni et al, 2006) using 5mm borer. It was*Corresponding author: aliyaap@yahoo.com

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carried out for E. coli, Pseudomonas florescense,
Klebsiella oxytoca, Citrobacter, Salmonella typhi,
Salmonella para typhi A, Acinetobacter, Shigella
dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus
saprophyticus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bacillus
subtilis and Candida albicans. Overnight cultures
(37ºC) in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) were adjusted
to 0.5 MacFarland’s standard and inoculated on
MHA.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Shilajit is an oriental medicine, from steep rocks of
different formations found throughout the whole
world (Phillips, 1997). It is said to be very effective
against chronic bronchitis and asthma, digestive
troubles, nervous disease, leprosy, parasitic diseases
of skin etc (Mittal et al., 2009).It is also believed to
slow down the process of aging(Sharma et al., 1978).
Most research papers described its physiological
properties and activity in humans and animals.
Antiviral and antifungal activities of shilajit have
been reported. Studies showed that it has effective

anti-inflammatory (Acharya et al., 1988) and
immunomodulatory (Ghosal S, 1990) effects. It was
also found that this compound has the property of
reducing viral load (Ghosal S, 1990).

In this study it was found that shilajit gave
intermediate zone of inhibition with gram positive
and negative bacteria. Only Acinetobacter spp. was
resistant to its action. Among gram positive (+)
organism; Streptococcus pneumonia and B.subtilis
showed greater zone of inhibition (20mm). While
S.aureus showed a zone of (17mm) and S.
saprophyticus showed a zone of (15mm). Among
gram negative (-) organism, Shigella dysenteriae
and Salmonella paratyphi A showed greater zone of
(17mm) in diameter. E.coli showed a zone of (16mm),
P.florescense and Klebsiella oxytoca showed a zone
of (16mm), Salmonella typhi showed a zone of
(14mm) and Citrobacter showed a zone of (13mm).

Greater zone of inhibition (50mm) was found in
Candida albicans as compare to bacteria. The
literature reported mostly antifungal activity of
shilajit. Inhibitory effects of shilajit were reported
by Shalini & Rachana Srivastava, (2009) against
phytopathogenic fungi.

CONCLUSION

It is concluded that this rock material not only helps
to overcome physiological activities of human but
simultaneously protects the body by inhibiting various
p a t h o g e n i c  o rg a n i s m s  o f  r e s p i r a t o r y  a n d
gastrointestinal tract.

REFERENCES

Acharya SB, Fortan MH, Goel RK, Tripathi SK and
Das PK. (1988). Pharmacological Actions of Shilajit.
Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 26: 775-
777.

Agarwal SP, Khanna  R,Karmarkar,Anwer MK,Khar
RK. (2007). Shilajit: A Review. Phytother Res.,
21(5):401-405.

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Zone of Inhibition
(mm)

Table I. Zone of inhibition of different isolates.



Alberto Cornejo, José M. Jiménez, Leonardo
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