Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Some Traditionally Used Medicinal Plants against Human Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

The worldwide increase of multidrug resistance in both community- and health-care associated bacterial infections has impaired the current antimicrobial therapy, warranting the search for other alternatives. We aimed to find the in vitro antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of 16 different traditionally used medicinal plants of Nepal against 13 clinical and 2 reference bacterial species using microbroth dilution method. The evaluated plants species were found to exert a range of in vitro growth inhibitory action against the tested bacterial species, and Cynodon dactylon was found to exhibit moderate inhibitory action against 13 bacterial species including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhi, and S. typhimurium. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of tested ethanolic extracts were found from 31 to >25,000 μg/mL. Notably, ethanolic extracts of Cinnamomum camphora, Curculigo orchioides, and Curcuma longa exhibited the highest antibacterial activity against S. pyogenes with a MIC of 49, 49, and 195 μg/mL, respectively; whereas chloroform fraction of Cynodon dactylon exhibited best antibacterial activity against S. aureus with a MIC of 31 μg/mL. Among all, C. dactylon, C. camphora, C. orchioides, and C. longa plant extracts displayed a potential antibacterial activity of MIC < 100 μg/mL.

Antibacterial activities of ethanol extracts of Philippine medicinal plants against multidrug-resistant bacteria

“…However, very little information is available on such activity of medicinal plants [6] . There have been numerous documentations found in the medical literature concerning the significance of traditional medicinal plants as alternatives to synthetic antibacterial and antifungal medications [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . Most of these published works come from many countries that are still practicing the use of herbal medicine for the treatment of various diseases for practical and economic reasons.…”

Antiviral and Antimicrobial Activity of Medicinal Plant Extracts

“…care system is suggested by World Health Organization [11]. Although a large number of medicinal plants (>500 plants) have been reported to be used by people since a long time for primary health care, there has been a paucity in data regarding their in vitro or in vivo efficacy [12].…”

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“…C. longa is well known for its antibacterial effect against many pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria 26,27 . Till date, only in one study MDR strains of E. Coli (12.68 mm), S. aureus (>8.66 mm) and P. aeruginosa (>8.66 mm) were examined for their response to combination therapy comprising CUD and A. indica extract 28 .…”