Antibacterial activity of aquatic extract of Myrtus communis leaves against Periodontitis isolated bacteria

Abstract

Myrtus communis is an evergreen plant that can survive stressful environments and high-temperature seasons. Treatment using green plants was the most trended in recent years. The present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial effects of Myrtus communis leaves against bacteria isolated from periodontitis. Fifty samples were collected from periodontitis subjects in both genders (female 32 % and male 68 %). The isolates were diagnosed by morphological characterization and biochemical tests. M. communis leaves were identified, collected, and prepared for extraction. The plant leaves were extracted using distilled water. The antibacterial susceptibility testing was performed by the well diffusion method. Antibiotics susceptibility patterns were executed using the disc diffusion method. All the isolates belonged to gram-positive bacteria. Among the isolated bacteria, 20, 18, and 12 were Lactobacillus spp., Streptococcus spp., and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The antibacterial susceptibility testing of M. communis extract showed a potential zone of inhibition against all the tested bacteria. Of the different concentrations, 30 mg/ml showed the highest zone of inhibition, 18.2 mm, 19.50 mm, and 30.66 mm against Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Lactobacillus spp. Among the tested antibiotics, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol exhibited the highest zone of inhibition against the tested bacteria. The aquatic extract of M. communis leaves was found to be effective against gram-positive bacteria. Further studies are warranted to investigate the active bio-compounds.