SCREENING OF SELECTED PLANTS GROWING IN IRAN FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY*

Abstract – The antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts from different parts of 11 indigenous wild plant species used in traditional medicines of Iran were tested against nine species of microorganisms: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial efficacy was determined using the disk diffusion (0.5, 1, 2 and 4 mg/disk) and minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) method. Among the 11 tested herbs, 9 plants showed antimicrobial activity against one or more species of microorganism. The most active antimicrobial plants were Stachys obtusicrena, Anvillea garcinii, Salvia species, Otostegia persica and Teucrium persicum