The antibacterial activity of five commercial plant extracts against lt;emgt;Staphylococcus aureuslt;/emgt; and lt;emgt;Escherichia colilt;/emgt;

Abstract

In the present work, the antibacterial activity of five commercial vegetable extracts (Allium sativum, Chamaemelum nobile, Thymus vulgaris, Zingiber officinale and Ricinus communis) was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by the agar diffusion method, and the microdilution for the determination the minimum inhibitory concentration. For Vincent's method, the diameters of inhibition range between 6 and 20 mm against Escherichia coli, in contrary for Staphylococcus aureus, the extracts were inactive except garlic extract which is weakly inhibited. The determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration shows that the highest activity was recorded to thyme extract against Escherichia coli (108.75 mg / ml), but for Staphylococcus aureus, 350 mg / ml of garlic extract was necessary for its inhibition.