Preliminary Screening for Antibacterial Properties of the Male Flowers of Phoenix dactylifera

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial potential of the male flowers of Phoenix dactylifera (date palm tree) against five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacteria.
 Methods: Male flowers were collected and extracted by maceration using 80% methanol and the antibacterial activity was determined using cup-plate diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) tests.
 Results: The methanol extract of male flowers of Phoenix dactylifera showed varying degrees of antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, the most susceptible Gram-positive bacteria were Bacillus cereus and Streptococcus pneumonia which recorded 12.2±0.3 and 9.0±0.0 mm zone of inhibition (ZI), MIC values were 50 and 100 mg/ml, MBC values were 200 and ˂200 mg/ml, respectively. The most susceptible Gram-negative bacteria were Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa which recorded 10.0±0.0, 9.7±0.3 and 9.0±0.0 mm ZI, MIC values were 100 mg/ml and MBC values were 200 mg/ml, respectively. Based on MBC/MIC ratio, the extract has some degree of bactericidal effect. However, the results were not competitive with the standard drug (Chloramphenicol).
 Conclusion: As a result, the tested methanol extract of male flowers of date palm tree exhibited some degree of antibacterial activity with a bactericidal property. More future studies such as fractionation process are required to isolate and investigate its bioactive compounds.