Abstract:

The antibacterial activities of the alcohol, ethyl acetate, acetone and chloroform extracts of 5 plant species were studied. The extracts of Pimpinella anisum (L.) (anise, aniseed) (seed), Coriandrum sativum (L.) (coriander, cilantro) (seed), Glycyrrhiza glabra (L.) (liquorice) (root), Cinnamomum cassia Blume (cassia bark, Chinese cinnamon) (bark), and Juniperus oxycedrus (L.) (juniper) (seed) were tested in vitro against 13 bacterial species and strains by the agar diffusion method. Bacillus brevis FMC 3, Bacillus cereus EU, Bacillus megaterium DSM 32, Bacillus subtilis IMG 22, Bacillus subtilis var. niger ATCC 10, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae FMC 5, Listeria monocytogenes SCOTT A, Micrococcus luteus LA 2971, Mycobacterium smegmatus RUT, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 P 41797 were used in this investigation. The results indicated that the alcohol extracts of Pimpinella anisum seeds showed antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus and Mycobacterium smegmatus 8 mm/20 µl, while the extracts of Coriandrum sativum seeds showed no inhibition zone against microorganisms that were tested. The extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots showed various antibacterial activities (7-11 mm/20 µl inhibition zone) against the microorganisms tested. The alcohol extracts did not inhibit B. subtilis var. niger, B. brevis, E. faecalis, L. monocytogenes, P. aeruginosa and Y. enterocolitica. The ethyl acetate extracts did not inhibit B. subtilis or Y. enterocolitica, and the acetone extracts did not inhibit E. faecalis, L. monocytogenes, P. aeruginosa or Y. enterocolitica. The chloroform extracts showed no inhibition effect against P. aeruginosa or Y. enterocolitica. The extracts of Cinnamomum cassia bark showed antibacterial activity (7-29 mm/20 µl inhibition zone) to the microorganisms tested. The alcohol extracts showed a 7 mm/20 µl inhibition zone against B. megaterium and E. faecalis. The ethyl acetate extracts did not inhibit B. subtilis var. niger, P. aeruginosa or Y. enterocolitica, the acetone extracts showed no antibacterial activity against B. subtilis var. niger or Y. enterocolitica, and the chloroform extracts did not inhibit B. subtilis var. niger or P. aeruginosa. The Juniperus oxycedrus seed extracts showed a 7-15 mm/20 µl inhibition zone against the listed microorganisms, but the ethyl acetate extracts showed no inhibition zone against E. faecalis, while acetone and chloroform extracts did not inhibit P. aeruginosa.

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