| Abstrakt: |
Background: Cichorium intybus is a scientific name of a bushy perennial herbaceous plant, its common name is chicory, and in Iraq It is called Hindibah. This medicinal plant is widely used all over the world as a popular herbal remedy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of alcoholic extracts of leaves, stems and seeds of Cichorium intybus on most frequently isolated bacteria from human infections. Methodology: Antibacterial activities of methanolic extracts of leaves, stems and seeds of Cichorium intybus of different concentrations (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000 mg/ml) were tested against eight different species of bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter spp., Lactobacillus spp and Streptococcus faecalis, isolated from different human lesions. Results: No inhibitory effects had been found of methanolic extracts of all concentrations of stems and seeds of Cichorium intybus on all the bacterial species tested under the present experimental conditions. In addition, no inhibitory effects had been observed of 25mg/ml concentration of methanolic leaves extracts on all tested microorganisms. The highest activity (more than 12mm growth inhibition) was obtained with 1000 mg/ml concentration of leaves methanolic extract against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella spp, Proteus vulgaris, Lactobacillus spp. and Streptococcus faecalis; whereas E.coli and Enterobacter spp. showed the lowest inhibitory activity at this concentration. Conclusion: The results had indicated that higher concentrations of leaves methanolic extracts might be needed to show their antibacterial effects and this could be true also with respect to methanolic extracts of stems and seeds. Also, there were no observed effects of methanolic extracts of these parts of Cichorium intybus on the bacterial species under the present experimental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
