Antibacterial and antifungal activities of Moroccan wild edible plants selected based on ethnobotanical evidence

Abstract

Background Despite the extensive literature focusing on identifying novel antimicrobials of plant origin, little work has been undertaken to examine the antimicrobial activity of wild edible plants. Objective The current research aimed to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of some common wild edible plants. Material and Methods Disc diffusion and broth micro dilution methods were used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of extracts of <i>Mercurialis annua</i>, <i>Ziziphys lotus</i>, <i>Rubia peregrina</i>, <i>Origanum vulgare</i>, <i>Papaver rhoeas</i>, <i>Foeniculum vulgare</i>, and <i>Dysphania ambrosioides</i> against known human microorganisms’ pathogens. Results The result indicated that most of the extracts exhibited a range of <i>in vitro</i> growth inhibitory action against all bacterial strains and yeasts tested with inhibition zones ranging from 11 mm to 32 mm, MIC value ranging from 0.048 to 50 mg/ml and MBC and MFC values ranging from 0.048 to 100 mg/ml. Among the seven plant extracts tested, <i>O. vulgare</i> was the most effective showing high antimicrobial activity against all tested microbial strains. All plant extracts exhibited bactericidal activities against all the tested bacteria strains except for those of <i>R. peregrina</i>, <i>P. rhoeas</i> and <i>F. vulgare</i> which showed a bacteriostatic activity against <i>E. coli</i> and <i>Pseudomonas</i> sp. Antifungal activity was shown only by<i> O. vulgare</i>, <i>F. vulgare</i> and <i>D. ambrosioides</i> against both <i>C. albicans</i> and <i>C. neoformans</i>. Conclusions These findings highlight the potential of wild edible plants to control human pathogenic microbes and demonstrate that these plants could be used as starting points for the development of novel antimicrobial compounds.