Biological activities of Allium sativum and Zingiber officinale extracts on clinically important bacterial pathogens, their phytochemical and FT-IR spectroscopic analysis

The spread of bacterial infectious diseases is a major public threat. Herbs and spices have offered an excellent, important and useful source of antimicrobial agents against many pathological infections. In the current study, the antimicrobial potency of fresh, naturally and commercial dried Allium sativum and Zingiber officinale extracts had been investigated against seven local clinical bacterial isolates such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Serratia marcesnces by the agar disc diffusion method. All tested pathogens except P. aeruginosa and E. coli were most susceptible to ethanolic and methanolic extracts of A. sativum. Similarly, chloroform and diethyl ether extracts of Z. officinale showed a greater zone of inhibition of tested pathogens except for P. aeruginosa and E. coli. We found that all extracts of A. sativum and Z. officinale have a strong antibacterial effect compared to recommended standard antibiotics through activity index. All results were evaluated statistically and a significant difference was recorded at P< 0.05. Antioxidant activity of extracts showed that 10 out of 13 extracts have high scavenging potential. Thin layer chromatography profiling of all extracts of A. sativum and Z. officinale proposed the presence of various phytochemicals such as tannins, phenols, alkaloids, steroids and saponins. Retention factor of diverse phytochemicals provides a valuable clue regarding their polarity and the selection of solvents for separation of phytochemicals. Significant inhibition of S. aureus was also observed through TLC-Bioautography. FT-IR Spectrometry was also performed to characterize both natural and commercial extracts of A. sativum and Z. officinale to evaluate bioactive compounds. These findings provide new insights to use A. sativum and Z. officinale as potential plant sources for controlling pathogenic bacteria and potentially considered as cost-effective in the management of diseases and to the threat of drug resistance phenomenon

Short communication: in vitro screening of mucus and solvent extracts of Eisenia foetida against human bacterial and fungal pathogens

Earthworms are macro invertebrate and have been widely used as therapeutic drugs for thousands of years. In the current research, experiments viz., the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity of mucus and solvent extracts of Eisenia foetida were conducted to investigate for the first time in Pakistan against human infectious pathogens. Antimicrobial activity of E. foetida against human pathogens underwent investigation through an agar disc diffusion method while an ABTS+ free radical scavenging method assessed the antioxidant activity. The percentage of bacterial and fungal growth was analyzed statistically with One-Way Analysis of Variance [ANOVA]. Results showed that the mucus IV of E. foetida produced a strong potent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited the highest inhibition zone [33.67 +/- 1.53 mm], followed by Klebsiella pneumonia [30.33 +/- 1.53mm], Penicillium notatum [30 +/- 0.051], Escherichia coli [29 +/- 1 mm], Candida albicans [28.33 +/- 0.54 mm], Staphylococcus aureus [27 +/- 1mm], Serratia marcescens [25.33 +/- 0.58 mm], Aspergillus flavus [25.33 +/- 0.58 mm], Staphylococcus epidermidis [24.33 +/- 0.58 mm], Streptococcus pyogenes [21.67 +/- 1.53 mm], and Aspergillus niger [20.67 +/- 0.53 mm]. Mucus IV of E. foetida also showed the highest antioxidant activity [99. The results clearly indicate that the mucus and solvent extracts contain effective antimicrobial properties and bioactive compounds to inhibit the growth of infectious pathogens. We conclude that mucus extracts of earthworm have significant level of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and in future could be potentially used against various infectious pathogens

In vitro assessment of antioxidant, antibacterial and phytochemical analysis of peel of Citrus sinensis

Antibacterial effect of Citrus sinensis peel extracts was evaluated against several pathogenic bacteria associated with human and fish infections viz., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Serratia marcesnces, Shigella flexneri, Enterobacter amnigenus, Salmonella Typhimurium and Serratia odorifera. Methanol, ethanol, chloroform and diethyl ether solvents were used for extraction. In vitro antibacterial activity was analyzed by agar well and agar disc diffusion methods. It was found that ethanol extract showed highly significant inhibition of E. coli and K. pneumonia [12.6 +/- 0.94 mm and 11.6 +/- 1.2 mm] whereas methanol extract of C. sinensis also showed high zone of inhibition of S. odorifera [10.0 +/- 2.16 mm]. The potential activity of active extracts was assessed and also compared with standard antibiotics through activity index formulation. The order of antioxidant activity through ABTS·+ and DPPH free radical scavenging activity was ethanol>methanol>chloroform>diethyl ether. Phytochemical screening of all solvents had determined the presence of terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, glycosides and flavonoids. It was also found that Chloroform/Methanol [5:5] and Butanol/Ethanol/Water [4:1:2.2] solvent systems showed significant separation of active phytochemical constituents. These findings reveal the potential use of C. sinensis peel to treat infectious diseases, which are being caused by microorganisms

Antibacterial screening of traditional herbal plants and standard antibiotics against some human bacterial pathogens

Chloroformic and isoamyl alcohol extracts of Cinnnamomum zylanicum, Cuminum cyminum, Curcuma long Linn, Trachyspermum ammi and selected standard antibiotics were investigated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against six human bacterial pathogens. The antibacterial activity was evaluated and based on the zone of inhibition using agar disc diffusion method. The tested bacterial strains were Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aurues, Serratia marcesnces, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ciprofloxacin showed highly significant action against K. pneumonia and S. epidermidis while Ampicillin and Amoxicillin indicated lowest antibacterial activity against tested pathogens. Among the plants chloroform and isoamyl alcohol extracts of C. cyminum, S. aromaticum and C. long Linn had significant effect against P. aeruginosa, S. marcesnces and S. pyogenes. Comparison of antibacterial activity of medicinal herbs and standard antibiotics was also recorded via activity index. Used medicinal plants have various phytochemicals which reasonably justify their use as antibacterial agent