Antimicrobial activities of aqueous extracts and essential oils of two endemic species from Turkey

Abstract

<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt" lang="EN-US">Salvia</span></i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt" lang="EN-US"> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Ballota</i> species of Lamiaceae have been used in the traditional medicine. <i>Salvia heldreichiana </i>Boiss. Ex Bentham, <i>Ballota saxatilis </i>subsp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">b<span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">rachyodonta </span></i>Boiss. P. H. Davis &amp; Doroszenko. are endemics, found in Mersin-Hatay-Adana region and to our knowledge their antimicrobial activities never been researched before.<i> </i>Antimicrobial activities of the aqueous extracts (herbal extract) (AE) and essential oils (EO) of two endemic plants were screened again nine human pathogenic bacteria and yeast. Aqueous extracts (AE) and essential oils (EO) of these plants were investigated against four Gram-positive bacteria, three Gram-negative bacteria and two yeast species. Antimicrobial activity were determined by using macrodilution method. The aqueous extracts of the plants showed rather low antimicrobial activity against the studied microorganisms than their essential oils. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values have been changed in the range of 0.78-50 μg/ml. The aqueous extracts and essential oils of <i>Ballota saxatilis </i>subsp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">brachyodonta<span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic"> </span></i>and <i>Salvia heldreichiana </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic">possess compounds with antimicrobial effect against pathogen microorganisms. Further studies should be carried out in order to reveal their potential.

</span></span>