Antimicrobial activity of some plant materials used in Armenian traditional medicine

Abstract

BackgroundAntibiotic resistance has become one of the major problems facing humanity. The need for new antimicrobials has been increased dramatically. Plants are considered as one of the most promising sources for new antimicrobials discovery. Despite relatively small area, Armenia has large diversity of flora with many endemic species. In Armenian folk medicine plant materials have been used to treat various microbial diseases since ancient times. The goal of our research was to evaluate antimicrobial efficiency of different parts of five wild plants species which are commonly used in Armenian traditional medicine.MethodsPlant crude extracts were obtained with maceration technique using five solvents separately: distilled water, methanol, chloroform, acetone, and hexane. Agar well diffusion assay was used for initial evaluation of antimicrobial properties of plant materials against five bacterial and two yeast strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the most active plant parts were determined by broth microdilution method.ResultsCrude extracts of all five tested plants expressed antimicrobial activity against at least four test strains at 500 μg ml−1 concentration. Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations of selected plant parts were determined. Crude acetone and hexane extracts of Hypericum alpestre and acetone extract of Sanguisorba officinalis inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa even at 64 μg ml−1 concentration. Chloroform and acetone extracts of Sanguisorba officinalis exhibited cidal activity against P. aeruginosa till 256 μg ml−1. Acetone was the most effective solvent for solubilizing antimicrobial compounds for almost all tested plant materials.ConclusionsThus, antimicrobial activity of some medicinal plants used in Armenian traditional medicine was evaluated. Some of the plants had rather low minimum bacteriostatic/bactericidal concentrations and therefore they have prospective for further more inclusive studies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1573-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Novel approach to combat antibiotic resistance: evaluation of some Armenian herb crude extracts for their antibiotic modulatory and antiviral properties

“…Five wild Armenian plant materials were collected from Tavush region (1300–1600 m above sea level). The collection, identification and preparation of plant materials were done according to already established protocol (Ginovyan et al ). Identification of plant materials was done at Department of Botany and Mycology, Yerevan State University (Armenia).…”

“…Details of tested plant species including their traditional uses and tested parts are presented in Table . The tested plant parts have been chosen based on an initial evaluation of antimicrobial activities of different parts of these plants, as well as their traditional uses (Ginovyan et al ).…”

“…Maceration technique was used for extraction of plant materials using distilled water, methanol (98%), chloroform (99%), acetone (99·8%) and hexane (97%) (Sigma‐Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) according to the method described previously (Ginovyan et al ). Grinded plant materials were soaked with each solvent separately at 10 : 1 solvent‐to‐sample ratio (v/w).…”

“…The decrease in MICs of antibiotics in the presence of plant crude extracts indicated antibiotic modulatory activity of plant crude extracts. Broth microdilution assay was used for the determination of MIC values, as described previously (Ginovyan et al ). The modulation factor (MF), which indicates synergistic or modulating interactions, was determined by the following formula: MF = MIC antibiotic /MIC antibiotic + extract .…”

Antimicrobial activity from leaf, flower, stem, and root of Clitoria ternatea – A review

“…Research on plants as a source of treatment for incurable diseases has resulted in a huge demand for medicinal plants. It has been reported that plants have been considered as one of the most sought-after sources for the discovery of antimicrobial agent [12]. The secondary metabolites found in plants are mostly accountable for antimicrobial activity; the major phytoconstituents involved are terpenoids, phenolics, lectins, alkaloids, polyphenols, and polypeptides [13].…”