ethnopharmacological study on antibacterial activity of some selected plants used in Iranian traditional medicine

Iran is a land of great heritage of ancient medical scholars. Herbal medicines, as a basement of treatment of diseases have been clearly described in the medical texts of these scholars including Rhazes, Avicenna, and others. Numerous plants are introduced in these texts to treat those diseases likely to be infective ones. Few attempts have been made to evaluate ethnopharmacological aspects of these plants. In the present study selected specimens of plants described in ancient Iranian medical texts to treat infective conditions were evaluated for antibacterial activity. The hypothesis of this study was that the plants described in the ancient medical texts possess antibacterial properties. In this study, ten specimens of these plants were selected from various texts. Their scientific terminologies were prepared based on various respected sources. The antibacterial activity of hydroalcoholic extracts of these herbs, as well as their MICs and MBCs were evaluated according to standard techniques. Results of this study showed that almost all of 10 specimens showed considerable antibacterial activity. The MIC and MBC of some herbs showed strong activity against gram positive and gram negative microorganisms. MICs and MBCs of Heracleum persicum and antibacterial activity of Zea mays are reported for the first time in this study. The antibacterial activity of the selected plants supports their old uses as anti-infective agents. The results of this survey also showed antibacterial activity of Arnebia euchroma [Royle] Johst. and Teucrium polium L. traditionally used as poultice for infective wounds. H. persicumi traditionally used in Iran as spice can play a valuable role in preventing food poisoning. The data of this study supported the importance of ethnopharmacological approach and opened also the new doors to future researches in this field

effects of autoclaving, salt and protein on antimicrobial activities of Iranian sumac

Although many compounds have already approved for use in food as antimicrobials, research for finding greater number of these compounds are still interesting because most currently approved food antimicrobials have limited applications due to food compound interactions. Finding new food antimicrobials requires expensive investigations. Traditional herbal antimicrobial agents like sumac can play an important role. If it is demanded to promote sumac to the rank of a food antimicrobial agent, its stability and interactions must be evaluated. The evaluation of sumac heat stability was done by measuring MICs and MBCs of the extract against some food- related bacteria in extreme condition of autoclaving. The main components of sumac extract are tannic compounds. Tannins have interactions with salt and proteins, and they become sediment in such conditions. Antimicrobial activities of the extract were measured by well diffusion method in the presence of salt and protein and compared with the activities of pure extract. The results show that sumac is heat stable but has interactions with salt and proteins that reduce its activity against Gram- negatives