SCREENING OF SELECTED PLANTS GROWING IN IRAN FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY

The antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts from different parts of 11 indigenous wild plant species used in traditional medicines of Iran were tested against nine species of microorganisms: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial efficacy was determined using the disk diffusion (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 mg/disk) and minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) method. Among the 11 tested herbs, 9 plants showed antimicrobial activity against one or more species of microorganism. The most active antimicrobial plants were Stachys obtusicrena, Anvillea garcinii, Salvia species, Otostegia persica and Teucrium persicum.