Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts of Herbal Plants used in the Traditional Medicine of Bahrain

Abstract

Petroleum ether, methanol, hexane, butanol and aqueous crude extracts of the whole aerial parts of Suaeda vermiculata, Prosopis farcta, Capparis spinosa and Salsola villosa exhibited variable degrees of antimicrobial activity. Extracts had low to moderate actvity against four bacterial and two fungal species compared with that exerted by antibiotics. The petroleum ether extract of S. vermiculata and the butanol extract of S. villosa had high antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum comparable to the antifungal miconazole nitrate.

The antimicrobial activity of Physalis peruviana L.

“…The mentioned researchers claimed that sensitivity of microorganism to chemoterapeutic compounds can change even against different strains. In similar studies (Chiang et al 1992;Mahansen 1996;Kıvçak et al 2002;Uzun et al 2002;Ateş et al 2003;Soares et al 2003;Dülger 2005;Kırbag et al 2005;Nair 2005;Şengül et al 2005;Vieria et al 2005;Kumar et al 2006;Mathabe et al 2006;Magalhes et al 2006), the extract of various plants inhibited the growth of some microorganisms at different ration. Different plants possess different constituents in different concentration, which account for differential antimicrobial effect, as also suggested.…”

“…The effect of plant extracts on microorganism have been studied by a very large number of researchers in different parts of the world (Mahansen 1996;Kıvçak et al 2002;Uzun et al 2002;Ateş et al 2003;Dülger 2005;Kırbag et al 2005;Nair 2005;Şengül et al 2005;Kumar et al 2006;Mathabe et al 2006).…”

Assessment of in vitro. Antifungal Activities of Various Extracts of Indigenous Bahraini Medicinal Plants

“…With the exception of one study (Mahasneh et al, 1996), no previous reports on the antifungal properties and chemical nature of the inhibitory compounds of the examined plant taxa could be found in the literature. In their study, Mahasneh et al (1996) reported a mild inhibitory effect (average 11.5 mm) of various extracts of Capparis spinosa against Fusarium oxysporum and Candida albicans.…”

“…The practice is still strong in the treatment of minor ailments with these plants including ulcers, pneumonia, stomach disorders, rheumatism, diabetes, renal problems, and bronchitis (Abbas et al, 1992). Researchers are increasingly turning their attention to folk medicine and antimicrobial compounds from plant species used in herbal medicine in Bahrain (Abbas et al, 1992;Al-Saleh et al, 1993, 1997Mahasneh et al, 1996;Taha & Hashem, 2000). Moreover, herbal medicine is improved as an alternative effective solution to health problems and cost of pharmaceutical products.…”

“…The active principles of many drugs are usually found in plants as secondary metabolites. Nevertheless, relatively few studies are focused on developing antifungal compounds (Jones et al, 2000;Portillo et al, 2001;Quiroga et al, 2001;Navarro-Garcia et al, 2003) from medicinal plants compared to antibacterial substances (Al-Saleh et al, 1997;Mahasneh et al, 1996).…”