Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Activity of Some Extracts from Atriplex halimus Growing in Algerian Sahara

Abstract

Background: Natural products possess interesting biological activities, which attracted several researchers to their elucidation to provide knowledge that will lead to the advancement medicine. Chenopodaceae is an important plant family in the world; it contains a number of phytochemicals and has been used to treat a wide range of human diseases. The aim of this work was to carry out qualitative analyses of secondary metabolites and an antimicrobial investigation on the crude extracts from Atriplex halimus (Chenopodaceae) growing in Algerian Sahara. Methods: In this laboratory investigation during 2021-2022, phytochemical screening based on staining and precipitation tests was carried out using some solvents of different polarities. The antibacterial essay was carried out by the disc diffusion method on solid medium, using seven bacterial strains chosen for their high pathogenicity. Result: The secondary metabolites detected in the various extracts were essentially flavonoids, tannins, saponins and terpenoids. The antibacterial investigation made it possible to know that the aqueous extract from Atriplex halimus showed a significant inhibition against all bacteria tested. Diethyl ether and chloroform exracts had only one activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria monocytogenes, respectively, whereas the methanolic extract exhibited the highest inhibition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.