ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF SATUREJA HORTENSIS L. TOWARDS PATHOGENIC MICROBIAL STRAINS

The paper provides the information on the component composition of ethereal oil of Satureja hortensis cultivated in Zhytomyr Polissya. In the ethereal oil of summer savory, 19 components were identified: carvacrol (89,07%), γ-terpinene (3,53%), α-thujone (1,7%), camphora (1,48%), terpinen-4 ol 4 (0,91%), β-bisabolen (0,56%), β-caryophyllene (0,45%), bitsiklogermakren (0,38%) para-cymene (0,34%), 1,8-cineole (0,33%), trans-sabinengidrat (0.25%), 1-octen-3-ol (0.20%), spatulenol (0,18%), β-thujone (0,14%), eugenol (0,11%), geranylacetate (0,11%), humulene (0,09%), α-terpinene (0,09%), octanol-3 (0,07%). A high carvacrol content determines antimicrobial properties of summer savory. The antimicrobial activity of S. hortensis extract was studied in accordance with the common methodology of determining the sensitivity of microorganisms to antibacterial preparations. The aboveground part of plants harvested in the last ten-day period of August, in the flowering phase, was used in the experiments. The raw material was reduced to fragments of 1-1.5mm according to the requirements of pharmacopoeia. The extract of S. hortensis was obtained by the method of maceration in 40% ethyl alcohol at a ratio of 1:5 and the concentration of 200mg/ml. The availability of antimicrobial activity of extracted substances in the structure of the substances studied was determined by the way of comparison of their minimum inhibiting concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations (MBC/MFC) with those in 40% ethyl alcohol. The paper investigates the biological activity of 40 % ethanol extract of Satureja hortensis herb grown under the conditions of Ukrainian Polissya as to golden staphylococcus (Staphylococcus aureus), coliform bacillus Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans which are pathogenic in reference to other organisms. It has been shown that S. hortensis extract was characterized by antimicrobial activity since extracted substances increased 32 times the indices of minimum bacteriostatic concentration and 16 times those of minimum bactericidal concentration as to S. aureus. The less marked effect was registered concerning C. albicans. In this case twofold increase of MIC and MFC indices was only observed. In relation to E. coli the components of savory extract intensified two times the bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal effect of 40% ethanol. As to P. aerugionosa the antimicrobial effect was not registered. The paper draws attention to the prospects of the further more detailed study of ethanol extracts of summer savory with the aim of producing antibacterial and antifungal herbal preparations. Key words: Satureja hortensis, ethanol extract, minimal bacteriostatic concentration, minimal bactericidal concentration