ANTIMICROBIAL EFFECT OF HYDRO-ALCOHOLIC AND AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF RUTA GRAVEOLENS L. AGAINST STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the common bacteria in human infection. Increasing antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus lead to vast usage of antibiotics and releasing new drugs to market. In this respect, medical herbs with antimicrobial effect have had important role in traditional medicine. The purpose of this study was evaluating antimicrobial effect of hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts of seed and stem of Ruta graveolens plant on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923). Agar diffusion method was used and relative MIC and MBC of effective extracts were determined with macro dilution method. The change of number of bacteria in the presence of extract with concentration equal to MBC was also determined for different period of times. The results showed that unlike aqueous extract, the hydroalcoholic extracts of Ruta graveolens have no effect on Staphylococcus aureus. MIC and MBC of aqueous extract of stem were 10% and 20%, whereas, aqueous extract of seed were measured 10% and >30%, respectively. In the presence of aqueous extract of stem of Ruta graveolens, bacterial population was reduced gradually. Since Ruta graveolens is a native and abundant plant species in Iran; it is likely to produce drugs against Staphylococcus aureus infection which require further research.