Investigation of antibacterial activity of supercritical extracts of plants, as well as of extracts obtained by other technological processes on some bacteria isolated from animals

The multiresistance of bacteria to antibiotics, as well as the lack of new antibiotics on the market encouraged the research of antibacterial activity of non-antibiotic substances including plant extracts. During the previous decades, it has been proven that extracts of certain plants have a strong antibacterial activity, but their clinical use was limited due to the presence of organic solvents. However, plant extracts obtained by the process of supercritical fluid extraction contain no traces of solvents, and the latest researches have established that they do have antibacterial effects on some gram-positive bacteria. This comparative study included extracts of Common Mullein, Angelica and Echinacea obtained by means of supercritical fluid extraction, Soxlet extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction. The study of their antibacterial activity was performed on some strains of Staphylococcus, Enterobacter cloacae and E. coli isolated from clinical material of human and animal origin. A referential strain of S. aureus ATCC 25923 was included in the research. In the study broth macrodilution method was applied by which the MIC values of extracts were determined. The Angelica extract obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction had the strongest antibacterial activity, i.e. the lowest MIC value of 40 μg/mL for S. epidermidis strain. The Angelica extract obtained by supercritical fluid extraction also showed substantial antibacterial activity to all Staphylococcus strains included in this study, with the MIC values of 320 to 640 μg/mL. The extracts of Echinacea and Common Mullein obtained by supercritical fluid extraction, as well as of Echinacea extract obtained by Soxlet extraction showed no antibacterial activity since the MIC values of these extracts were 2560 μg/mL or >2560 μg/mL for all bacterial strains icluded in the study