Assessing the Antibacterial Effectiveness against MDR Strains and the Antioxidant Characteristics of Ficus auriculata

Abstract

For millennia, people have successfully treated a wide range of illnesses, including bacterial infections, with different plant parts or extracts. “MDR strain” typically refers to a “multi-drug resistant strain” of a bacteria. In the context of infectious diseases, a multi-drug resistant strain refers to a strain of the pathogen that has acquired resistance to multiple drugs that are commonly used to treat infections caused by that specific pathogen. MDR strains can present significant challenges in healthcare settings as they limit the effectiveness of standard treatments and may require more aggressive or specialized approaches to manage the infection. The discdiffusion method was used in this investigation to test the antimicrobial properties of Petroleum ether, acetone, ethanol, methanol, and aqueous extracts of Ficus auriculata leaves against four bacterial strains namely Salmonella enteric serovar typhi, Salmonella enteric ser Paratyphi (MDR strain) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The findings showed that all of the investigated organisms (zone of inhibition of 0.5 ± 0.15 & 18 ± 1.7 mm) were significantly inhibited by the petroleum ether, ethanol, and methanol extracts, with the exception of Salmonella typhi (an 18 mm inhibitory zone). The restricted area (≤5) indicated moderate activity in the aqueous extracts. It’s crucial to remember that antimicrobial activity analysis of plant extracts is just one step in the process of identifying potential natural antimicrobial agents. Further studies, including the identification and isolation of specific bioactive compounds, toxicology assessments, and clinical trials, are required before any plant extract can be considered for use as a drug development.