RESUMO
In an effort to document the antibacterial properties of plants commonly used by the people of Puerto Rico, we studied the effects of 172 plant species, utilizing the disc diffusion method, against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The methanolic extracts of 14 species showed antibacterial activities during this preliminary screen. These positive plant extracts were tested successively over 15 additional species. The results showed that extracts from Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae), Citrus aurantium (Rutaceae), Punica granatum (Punicaceae), Phyllanthus acidus (Euphorbiaceae) and Tamarindus indica (Caesalpiniaceae) possess strong in vitro antibacterial activity against the bacteria tested.
Assuntos
Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Bactérias/efeitos dos fármacos , Extratos Vegetais/farmacologia , Plantas Medicinais , Escherichia coli/efeitos dos fármacos , Frutas/química , Medicina Tradicional , Metanol/química , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana/métodos , Fitoterapia , Folhas de Planta/química , Plantas Medicinais/química , Porto Rico , Staphylococcus aureus/efeitos dos fármacos , Clima TropicalRESUMO
Overall, 173 tropical plants from 72 different families, collected from the north-western and western regions of Puerto Rico, were screened for their molluscicidal properties against Biomphalaria glabrata, the intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. Six plant extracts were effective at 50 ppm. The two most effective extracts were those from the leaves of Didymopanax morototoni (Araliaceae) and Mammea americana (Guttiferae), which, at 50 ppm, killed all snails after 24 h of exposure and a day for recovery. Under the same conditions, extracts of Furcraea tuberosa, Argemone mexicana and Paullinia pinnata killed 50% of the snails and that of Solanum americanum killed 33%. The most effective extracts (or their active components or compounds based on them) may have potential as molluscides for the relatively cheap control of human schistosomiasis.