Antibacterial screening of plants used in Iranian folkloric medicine

Fifty methanolic plant extracts belonging to 44 plant species of 33 families finding use in Iranian folkloric medicine were screened for antibacterial activity. Thirty samples, including 28 species in 20 families, had antibacterial activity against at least on one of the bacteria. Among the active plants, 32.6% were active against G(-), 62% against G(+), and 47.3% against both G(-) and G(+) bacteria. Dianthus coryophyllus was active against all tested G(-) and G(+) bacteria except Micrococcus luteus. Most susceptible G(-) bacteria were Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bordetella bronchiseptica and least susceptible G(-) bacterium was Escherichia coli. In G(+) bacteria, most and least susceptible were Staphylococcus aureus and M. luteus, respectively. The least MIC, as 0.62 mg/ml, belonged to Myrtus communis seeds against S. aureus, Bacillus cereus and B. bronchiseptica, and to Terminalia chebula ripe seeds against S. aureus.