The use of plants in treatment of infectious diseases is common in traditional medicine. The aerial parts of six different plants including Achillea santolina, Artemisia herba-alba, Capparis orientalis, Peganum harmala, Pituranthos tortuosus and Thymus capitatus belonging to the different families were studied for their antibacterial activity. Powdered plant materials of all selected plants were extracted with water, chloroform and methanol and tested for antibacterial activity. The antibacterial screening of the three extracts was carried out in vitro on the following bacteria Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens W225, Enterobacter cloacae, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella enterica, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. It has been shown that chloroform and methanol extracts had wider range of activity on these organisms than the aqueous extracts. Further studies are needed to identify antibacterial bioactive molecules.
Key words: Antibacterial activity, Medicinal plants, bacterial resistance
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