Abstract
<p>In the Mediterranean region, <em>Varthemia iphionoides</em> is commonly used in folk medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The present study described the antimicrobial activity of the methanolic extract of <em>V.</em> <em>iphionoides</em> leaves. The extract was assayed against a panel of pathogenic bacteria and fungi using agar well diffusion method. The antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract was investigated against six standard bacterial species and was found to exhibit high antibacterial activity. The most sensitive bacterium was <em>Klebsiella pneumoniae </em>ATCC 13883 followed by <em>Proteus vulgaris</em> ATCC 13315 and methicillin-resistant <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> ATCC 95047. The least sensitive bacterium to <em>V.</em> <em>iphionoides</em> methanolic extract was <em>Escherichia coli</em> O157:H7 ATCC43895. Antifungal susceptibility of 13 fungal species was tested against <em>V.</em> <em>iphionoides</em> methanolic extract. Among the fungal species studied, <em>Fusarium lini</em> was the most sensitive and <em>Beauveria bassiana</em> was the most resistant to the extract. Good antifungal activity has been displayed by the methanolic extract of <em>V.</em> <em>iphionoides</em> against <em>Aspergillus brasiliensis</em>,<em> Aspergillus niger</em>, and <em>Aspergillus alliaceus</em>,<em> Aspergillus flavus</em>, <em>Cunninghamella echinulata</em>, <em>Gibberella fujikuroi</em>, <em>Macrophomina phaseolina</em>, <em>Cephalosporum aphidicola</em>, <em>Rhizoupus stolonifer</em>, <em>Curvularia lunata</em> and <em>Cunninghamella elegans</em>. The observed antimicrobial potential of <em>V.</em> <em>iphionoides</em> indicated that this plant possesses bioactive compounds that are able to combat pathogenic microorganisms and support its traditional use in the treatment of pathogen infection.</p>
Highlights
The misuse of antimicrobial drugs is often associated with drug resistance in pathogenic microorganism (Cowan, 1999)
The leaves of Varthemia iphionoides were collected at the flowering stage in April 2014 from wild population found in Al-Salt governorate (20 km west Amman, Jordan; semi-arid region; mean annual rainfall; 350 mm)
The present study investigated the in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities of the methanolic extract of V. iphionoides using the agar well diffusion method
Summary
The misuse of antimicrobial drugs is often associated with drug resistance in pathogenic microorganism (Cowan, 1999). To protect themselves against microbial and herbivory attacks, plants produce a large variety of secondary metabolites, such as, quinones, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids. These metabolites have been found to possess antimicrobial activities (González-Lamothe et al, 2009; Savoia, 2012). The concentrations of these phytochemicals are very high in medicinal and aromatic plants. The antimicrobial activity of medicinal plants has been reported by an enormous number of studies worldwide (Shahid et al, 2009; Wangchuk et al, 2011)
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