Open AccessPhytochemical screening and in vitro antimicrobial activity of Thymus lanceolatus Desf. from Algeria
Author(s) -
Fethi Benbelaïd,
Abdelmounaïm Khadir,
Mohamed Amine Abdoune,
Mourad Bendahou
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(13)60100-0
Subject(s) - phytochemical , antimicrobial , traditional medicine , in vitro , biology , chemistry , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry
Objective: To investigate the antimicrobial activity of an endemic Thyme, Thymus lanceolatus (T.\udlanceolatus), against a large number of pathogens.\udMethods: Four solvent extracts were evaluated for antimicrobial activity using disc diffusion\udmethod and MIC determination on twenty-one strains.\udResults: T. lanceolatus extracts showed a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, especially\udethanol extract with inhibition zone diameters ranging from 14 to 32 mm, and MIC values from 0.052\udto 0.500 mg/mL. Chloroform extract was more active against Gram-positive bacteria, since it has\udan inhibitory potency on Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis at only 31 µg/mL. While,\udhexane and water extracts were less effective since they were inactive against several strains.\udConclusions: The findings of this study indicate that T. lanceolatus has a strong antimicrobial\udpotential, which justifies its use in folk medicine for treatment of infectious diseases. Since this\udspecies is poorly investigated, further refined studies on it pure secondary metabolites are needed\udand very important, in the perspective to identify new antimicrobial molecules from this endemic\udplant