Antimicrobial potential of Pakistani medicinal plants against multi-drug resistance Staphylococcus aureus

Objective: To determine resistance patterns of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolated from different areas of Pakistan and to identify antimicrobial agents against multi-drug resistant S. aureus strains. Methods: A total of 67 samples (sewerage, nasal and milk) were collected from different farm areas of Pakistan to identify local strains of S. aureus. Sixteen out of 67 samples were positive for S. aureus. Only 6 out of 16 S. aureus strains showed resistance to antibiotics. Then the antibacterial effect of 29 medicinal plants was evaluated on these S. aureus isolates and a standard S. aureus strain ATCC 25923. The solvents used for the extraction of plants were acetone, dimethyl sulfoxide and methanol. The in vitro antibacterial activity was performed using agar disc diffusion method. Moreover, minimum inhibitory concentration of effective medicinal plant extracts was identified through micro-dilution method to find out their 50% inhibitory concentration. Results: Plant extracts of 5 medicinal plants (Psidium guajava, Nigella sativa, Piper nigrum, Valeriana jatamansi, and Cucurbita pepo) exhibited antibacterial activity against locally isolated multidrug resistant strains of S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration of these extracts was ranged from 0.328 to 5.000 mg/mL. Conclusions: Plant extracts of Psidium guajava, Piper nigrum seed, Valeriana jatamansi, Cucurbita pepo and Nigella sativa showed significant in vitro antibacterial activity and thus, such findings may serve as valuable contribution in the treatment of infection and may contribute to the development of potential antimicrobial agents against multi drug resistant strains of S. aureu