In vitro antifungal and antibacterial activities of root extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra

Researchers are increasingly turning their attention to folk medicine lo o king for new leads to develop better drugs against microbial infections. The aim of this study was to evalua te the antimicrobial activ ity of crude extracts and fractions of the Glycyrrhiza glabra roots which have been traditional used as demulcents and expectorants in we s t e rn countries, in Japan and China. The decoction of root is used to treat allergic in flamma t ion and microbial infections . Extracts and their fractions were tes ted agains t six bacteria and two fungal strains using well diffusion method an d microdilution method. All extracts and fractions pos ses sed antimicrobial effect. Two fungal strains , Candida albican s and Trichophyton rubrum s h owed interes ting susceptibility profiles when evaluated us ing the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.8 to 200 mg/mL. In case of bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherchia coli were significantly susceptible to the extracts and fractions with MICs ranging from 0.2 to 1.2 mg/mL. Comparativ e re s u lts were carried out using Gentamicin for bacteria and clotrimazole for fungi as standard antibiotics