Abstract
Objective: Increasing use of medicinal plants in the treatment of infectious diseases are due to the development of multi-antibiotics resistant microorganisms, and had alerted our interest in the examination of some natural products. This study was carried out to investigate the antimicrobial activity of Jordanian propolis, black seed oil (Nigella sativa) extract, alone or in combination against clinically isolated microorganisms (bacteria and fungi).Methods: Jordanian propolis samples were collected. Aqueous and alcoholic extractions were done; black seed oil was extracted from Nigella sativa seeds. Seven clinical isolated microorganisms namely: Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus pumilus, Bordetella bronchisptica, Enterococcus fecalis, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus, and one yeast strain namely Candida albicans were used. The antimicrobial activity was investigated by agar diffusion technique and microplate dilution to determine the MIC.Results: The results indicated that the alcoholic propolis extract showed higher antimicrobial activity than the aqueous propolis extract. The antimicrobial activity of black seed oil was significantly higher than that of the propolis. Mixing propolis with black seed oil showed synergism effects against some microorganisms as Enterococcus fecalis (24±1.1), Bordetella bronchisptica (20±0.9) and Candida albicans (40±2.3), and additive with others as Bacillus subtilis (28±1.8).Conclusion: Black seed oil and propolis might be used as a potential source of safe and effective natural antimicrobial in pharmaceutical and food industries.
Highlights
Propolis is a gum produced by honey bees by assembling a gummy material from some trees, and processed in special ways by adding some bee’s secretions
Chemical analysis of black seed oil indicated it was 20% protein, 37% carbohydrate, and 37 % fats and oils in addition to minerals, this is in agreement with others [40], most of the pharmacological effects are due to quinine constituents of which Thymoquinone and melanin are the major components, this is in accordance with other workers [41, 42]
The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the alcoholic propolis extract was better than black seed oil and when they mixed together. These results indicate that propilis extracts and black seed oil possessed considerable antimicrobial activity, and this is in agreement with other researchers [1,2,3,4,5,6, 9, 43], with the alcoholic propolis extract being the most potent, which may indicate that the potent activity of propolis is lipophilic compound, and mixing them together did not improve their antimicrobial activity, which indicate that they have components which are antagonized
Summary
Propolis is a gum produced by honey bees by assembling a gummy material from some trees, and processed in special ways by adding some bee’s secretions. This material is used by bees in the construction of their hives, mainly to close the holes in the beehive, and is used as a protective barrier against bacteria and fungi, and has an antimicrobial effect against several human pathogens [1], against cariogenic organisms [2], against periodontal organisms [3], against respiratory infections [4], against gingival inflammation, against endodontic pathogens [5] and against oral ulcers [6].
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