Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Seven Gabonese Medicinal Plants against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella

  • Obiang-Obounou, Brice W. (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Kang, Ok-Hwa (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Choi, Jang-Gi (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Keum, Joon-Ho (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Kim, Sung-Bae (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Kim, Yong-Sik (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Mun, Su-Hyun (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Choi, Mi-Sun (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University) ;
  • Maroufath, Lamidi (IPHAMETRA (Institute of Traditional Pharmacopoeia and Medicine), CENAREST) ;
  • Kwon, Dong-Yeul (College of Pharmacy and Wonkwang-Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University)
  • Received : 2010.11.11
  • Accepted : 2011.03.05
  • Published : 2011.03.31

Abstract

The plant species reported here are used by traditional healers in Gabon for different ailments such as wounds, malaria, fever, gonorrhea or diarrhea. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of 7 plants (Strombosiopsis tetrandra, Tetraberlinia bifoliolata, Dichapetalum barbatum, Guibourtia demeusii, Dacryodes normandii, Manniophytum fulvum, Paropsia grewoides) against different strains of both Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Salmonella. Disc diffusion was first used to determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of the plants' ethanolic extracts. Then the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the crude extracts of either leaves or stem barks of the 7 plants were determined using broth micro-dilution. The ethanolic plant extracts showed very good activity against both MRSA and Salmonella strains where the MICs ranged from $250\;{\mu}g/ml$ to $1000\;{\mu}g/ml$. The study shows that many of the tested plants used by Gabonese traditional healers have antimicrobial activities and give support to their traditional use.

Keywords

References

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