Antimicrobial Activity of Some Plant Extracts on Microbial Pathogens Isolated from Hilla City Hospitals, Iraq

Abstract

Medicinal plants such as Garlic and Onion (Allium sativum and Allium cepa) respectively, can be described as those plants in which one or more of its organs contain substances that can be used for chemotherapeutic purposes or precursors for the synthesis of useful drug. The use of plants in treating ailments has been in practice since a long time ago.The present study aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of both aqueous and oil extracts of garlic and onion singly and mixed in vitro.Antimicrobial effects of aquatic garlic, onion and garlic-onion combination extract then garlic oil, onion oil and garlic-onion oil combination against five Gram-positive and eight Gram-negative bacterial isolates and one yeast (Candida albicans) were determined.Antimicrobial activity of these aqueous and oil extracts by well-diffusion method were characterized by inhibition zones of five Gram-positive, eight Gram-negative and one yeast pathogenic microbes. All organisms tested were highly sensitive to garlic-onion combination (aqueous and oil extract), then garlic (aqueous and oil extract), whereas all organisms tested were slightly sensitive to onion (aqueous and oil extract).Natural spices of Garlic and Onion (aqueous and oil extract) possess antimicrobial activity against our natural enemies like bacterial and fungal pathogens and further evaluation is necessary.