Determination of in vitro antimicrobial activity of Peruvian medicinal plants

B.Sc. Lizeth Johana Chinchay Chumbe

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Peruvian medicinal plants are commonly used because of their positive effects on some human ailments and in some cases, in domestic animals. In some regions, they are used to reduce inflammation of different parts of the body, as analgesics, for digestive disorders (against indigestion and diarrhoea, and as anthelmintic and laxatives), as diuretics, for cardio-vascular problems, for respiratory infections and in some native communities for their wound-healing properties. Nevertheless despite this rich tradition of plants use in the folk medicine, antimicrobial activity and active compounds of medicinal plants from various parts of Peruvian Amazon such as Purus district have not yet been studied for the treatment of microorganisms associated diseases. The aim of this study was to determine in vitro antimicrobial activity of ethanol extracts of five Peruvian medicinal plant species (Anomospermum grandifolium, Caamembeca spectabilis, Casearia pitumba, Piper heterophyllum and Solanum sessile), selected based on ethnobotanical information on their traditional use to treat infectious diseases. The broth microdilution method was used and activities against pathogenic microorganism such as Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus were assessed. Among all plants tested, Casearia pitumba, Piper heterophyllum and Solanum sessile showed antimicrobial properties, inhibiting most Gram-positive bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 128 to 512 ug/ml. The results of this work suggest Casearia pitumba, Piper heterophyllum and Solanum sessile as prospective materials for further work on the isolation and identification of active compounds which are responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the most effective medicinal plants. These findings indicate that further studies on chemical and biological properties of their active components should be performed.

Keywords

Antimicrobial activity, broth microdilution method, Peruvian medicinal plants.

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 18. 5. 2017

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: prof. Ing. Ladislav Kokoška, Ph.D.
• Reader: Adéla Fraňková, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / Tropical Crop Management and Ecology