title: Screening of Taiwanese crude drugs for antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans.
abstract: Preliminary antibacterial screening of local crude drugs was carried out using the cariogenic bacterium, Streptococcus mutans. Of 79 aqueous extracts tested, 6 crude drugs were shown to have significant antibacterial activity with minimal inhibitory concentration equal to or lower than 7.8 mg/ml (expressed in terms of dry starting material). Of these effective crude drugs, Morus australis, Ludwigia octovalvis and Thuja orientalis were very effective in inhibiting the growth of serotypes c and d of S. mutans (MIC less than or equal to 2.0-7.8 mg/ml). Elephantopus scaber, Artemisia vulgaris, Mosla chinensis and Orthosiphon aristatus also exhibited considerable antibacterial activity (MIC = 7.8-23.4 mg/ml) against both serotypes. In the presence of 5% sucrose, the antibacterial potency of the majority of the extracts did not change for type c, while the potency decreased about one-half for type d.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Namba
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012703:Serotyping; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects*; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts