Investigating of Anti-bacterial and Anti-fungal Activities of Lantana camara L. Against Human Pathogens

Abstract

Introduction: Today, the resistance of pathogens to antibiotics, as well as the side effects of chemical drugs, have led to our increasing use of medicinal plants. So, our purpose was to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal effects of leaves and flowers’ methanolic extracts of Lantana camara L. Methods: Iran’s National Botanical Garden (Tehran, Iran) provided the plant, whose leaves and flowers’ methanolic extracts were prepared by the percolation method. The antimicrobial activity was measured by the disc-diffusion method against some bacteria (gram-negative and gram-positive), as well as fungi. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by the serial dilution method and determining the diameter of the growth inhibition zone. Data were analyzed by Duncan test, and P<0.05 was designated as the significance level. Results: The results confirmed that the extracts had antimicrobial activities against the microorganisms tested with more potent activity against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and then fungi, respectively. Antimicrobial activity increased with rising the concentration of the extracts. The extracts of leaves and flowers showed comparable antimicrobial activity (P>0.05). Staphylococcus aureus showed the highest sensitivity at the 50% concentration of the leave and flower extracts (29.66±1.15 and 30.33±0.66, respectively), and Escherichia coli showed the least sensitivity at the 6.25 % concentration of the leave and flower extracts (2.66±0.88 and 1.00±1.15, respectively). The most potent antifungal activity was seen against Candida albicans at the 50% concentration of the leave extract (14.00±0.45), and the lowest antifungal activity was seen against Aspergillus niger at the 12.25% concentration of the flower extract (1.33±0.66). Conclusion: Lantana camara leaves and flowers’ extracts showed potential to be used as anti-microbial agents against bacterial and fungal infections.