In vitro Antibacterial Activities of Aqueous Extracts from Algerian Desert Truffles (Terfezia and Tirmania, Ascomycetes) Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

The aim of this study is to evaluate the in vitro effects of aqueous extracts of three species of Algerian desert truffles (Terfezia claveryi, T leonis, and Tirmania nivea) on the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The antimicrobial activity of the three aqueous extracts was tested using the agar well diffusion and kinetic bacterial growth curves methods. The aqueous extracts of Terfezia claveryi and Tirmania nivea were found to possess a very powerful antibacterial activity against both S. aureus and R aeruginosa using agar well diffusion. Using 4% and 11% of the aqueous extracts of T claveryi and T nivea in the growth medium of S. aureus caused a significant inhibition of S. aureus growth by 86.48% and 99.09%, respectively. The aqueous extracts of T claveryi and T nivea were found to cause a significant inhibition of the growth of P aeruginosa by 71.11% and 100%, respectively. However, the aqueous extract of Terfecia leonis did not show any antibacterial activity. Therefore, T claveryi and Tirmania nivea can be considered a source of natural therapeutic agents that can be used to treat eye infections caused by resistant bacteria such as R aeruginosa and S. aureus.