Abstract
A number of reports have been focusing on chemical compositions and functional properties of essential oils isolated from mint. However, there is little data available on the biological activities of non-volatile constituents. In this study, the antibacterial (against 2 gram-positive bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus; 2 gram-negative bacterial strains: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), antifungal (against Candida albicans, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Penicillium polonicum) and cytotoxic (against Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cell line) activities of three non-volatile extracts (Extracts 1 to 3) from the leaves and stems of mint were evaluated. Extract 1 showed significant antibacterial activity against gram-positive pathogens S. aureus and B. cereus, with an inhibition zone of 12.60 and 12.08 mm, respectively. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of extract 1 against S. aureus was 0.94 mg/ml. On the other hand, it exhibited low cytotoxic activity against normal Human Embryonic Kidney 293 cell line (CI50 nearly 30 mg/ml), which suggested that Extract 1 could be a potential and safe antibacterial agent. Nevertheless, the tested gram-negative bacteria and pathogenic fungi were not susceptible towards Extracts 2 and 3. Key words: Mint, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, cytotoxicity.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) has become a global threat to public health systems due to the misuse and abuse of antibiotics (Ferri et al, 2015)
While a number of reports have been focusing on chemical compositions and functional properties of essential oils isolated from mint, there is little data available on the biological activities of non-volatile constituents, which are reported to have broad-spectrum biological and antimicrobial activities and could be good substitutes for existing antibiotic drugs
The antibacterial activities of three non-volatile extracts with different concentrations were evaluated by using disc diffusion method against gram-positive (S. aureus ATCC 6538 and B. cereus ATCC 11778) and gramnegative (E. coli ATCC 25922 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853) bacterial strains
Summary
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) has become a global threat to public health systems due to the misuse and abuse of antibiotics (Ferri et al, 2015). Development of novel antibiotics is one of the effective measurements to address this ABR challenge (Saleem et al, 2010). Medicinal plants are potential sources of antibiotics due to the immense varieties of functionally relevant secondary metabolites (Ngo et al, 2013; Saleem et al, 2010). Systematic screening of these natural products may result in discovery of novel effective antibiotics.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
