Poster Presenter

Antimicrobial Activities of 20 Tunisian Plants Species
Mahjoub Abderrahman Aouni
Tunisia

In some developing countries, plants are the main medicinal source to treat infectious diseases due to economic conditions and availability.

Clinical evaluation of synthetic antibacterial antiviral and antioxidant drugs showed an incidence of relapses, side effects an drug interactions. This medication has been the cause for the development of new such drugs and the research for novel molecules has been extended to herbal drugs offer better protections ad decreased relapse.

Many Tunisian plant species are known to have medicinal activity and some of the species are used in traditional medicine. They were used to treat several infectious diseases such as pneumonia, colitis, tomtits, carbuncle, fever and an ant infectious gynaecological effect and a spontaneous contractile activity of the smooth muscle. And some flowers were also commonly used to treat some eye diseases. Some plants exhibited insecticidal and anti parasitic activities.

Tunisian recently increased research in traditional herbal medicines after observation they are effective for conditions to which they have traditionally applied.

Our studies are a scientific approach to re-establish the traditional uses of Tunisian plants to describe the cytotoxicity activity, to evaluate antibacterial antiviral, antifungal and antioxidant activities of of the organic and aqueous extract of fifteen species of Tunisian traditional medicinal plants belonging to 10 families (Chrysanthemum trifurcatum ,Nula viscos, reichardia urigitana, mesembryanthemum cristallinum,Conyza Canadensis, retama roetam , teucium sauvager citrullus colocynthis Schrad…)and some essential oils.

Antimicrobial activities were tested against 10 reference strains by the dilution method and the essential oil, obtained from fresh and dried leaves and flowers (in bud and in bloom) by hydrodistillation, were analysed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Antimicrobial activity of the majority of these plants has not been reported earlier.

In the present investigation all samples of plants extracts and essential oil showed some degree of activity against one or more of the bacterial, viral and yeasts strains.