Exploring the antibacterial and antioxidant potentials of some Egyptian wild plant species.

Abstract

In recent years, it has been evident that there is a rise in global interest in the discovery of drugs from medicinal plants. The present study aimed to estimate the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of five plant species: Lavandula atriplicifolia, Cocculus pendulus, Teucrium polium, Varthemia candicans, and Cassia javanica against multidrug-resistant bacterial isolates. In the present study, 107 different clinical specimens were collected and cultured resulting in seventy-nine bacterial isolates. The antibiotic-resistant pattern revealed the presence of seventeen multidrug-resistant bacteria. In vitro, antibacterial activity was evaluated against the seventeen resistant bacterial isolates by agar well diffusion method. Among the plants screened, the ethanol extracts of V. candicans and C. javanica showed the best antibacterial activity. The highest total phenol content was shown by L. atriplicifolia, Cassia javanica, and V. candicans ethanol extracts, while the highest flavonoid content was shown by L. atriplicifolia and T. polium extracts. The ethanol extracts of T. polium, L. atriplicifolia, V. candicans, and C. pendulus recorded significant DPPH scavenging activity, while the extracts of C. javanica, V. candicans, and T. polium recorded high PMA values. The results indicated that the investigated plants possessed significant antibacterial and antioxidant properties and could be a vital source of natural compounds for the development of novel drugs.