<em>In vitro</em> antimicrobial action of hydroalcoholic extracts of fruits and leaves of the species of <em>Ficus carica L</em>

Abstract

Background: medicinal plants are an invaluable therapeutic stock in the search for new bioactive substances with antimicrobial effectiveness.Objective: to determine the antimicrobial action of hydroalcoholic extracts of fruits and leaves of the species of Ficus carica L that grows in the province of Camagüey.Methods: an experimental study of the plant Ficus carica L was carried out at the Center of Immunology and Biological Products of the University of Medical Sciences of Camagüey, from February 2015 to September 2016. Fresh vegetable material as leaves and green and ripe fruits were used as raw material. The antimicrobial activity was determined by hydroalcoholic extracts, which were confronted with four germs: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans. The minimum inhibiting concentration was determined by means the broth macro-dilution method.Results: in the pure extracts of the green fruit, ripe fruit and leaves microbial growth was observed. At the 1:2 dilution there was no bacterial growth of the germs studied in the extracts of the three organs of the plant. However, the 1:4 dilution was sensitive to the extracts of green fruit and ripe fruit for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the Escherichia coli. Specifically, for the green fruit at the 1:4 dilution there was inhibition of the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, in the 1:8 dilution for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in both dilutions for the Candida albicans.Conclusions: the Ficus carica L plant used in the province of Camagüey has bioactive substances with antimicrobial effectiveness in hydroalcoholic extracts of fruits and leaves.

Keywords

• plants, medicinal
• ficus
• moraceae
• anti-infective agents