COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT EXTRACTS FROM SEVERAL REGIONS OF ASIA

This study was designed to investigate the antibacterial activities of alcohol extracts of Phoenix dactylifera (date palm ’type Ajwa’), Nigella sativa (black cumin), Elettaria cardamomum (cardamom), Tinospora crispa (Akar patawali) and Panax ginseng (ginseng). The plant extracts were prepared with methanol and assayed for antibacterial activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and S. aureus. Extracts of N. sativa, E. cardamomum and P. ginseng produced maximum inhibition activities in the MRSA strain ATCC 33591, while T. crispa had the greatest activity in the strain ATCC 25923. The P. dactylifera extract had no effect on the tested bacteria. The growth inhibition was used to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations. An in vivo experiment using the T. crispa ethanol extract in adult male and female Sprague Dawley rats (4 g kg^-1 dose) showed low toxicity based on the LD₅₀ value.