title: Antimicrobial activity of selected Peruvian medicinal plants.
abstract: The antimicrobial activity of 36 ethanol extracts from 24 plants, all of them currently used in the Peruvian traditional medicine for the treatment of several infectious and inflammatory disorders, was tested by means of the agar-well diffusion assay against four bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and four fungi (Candida albicans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Sporothrix schenckii). Twenty-five (69%) extracts showed some degree of antimicrobial activity against at least one microorganism. The plants with the greatest antimicrobial activity were Cestrum auriculatum L. Heritier (Solanaceae), Iryanthera lancifolia Ducke Suesseng (Myristicaceae), Lepechinia meyenii (Walp.) Epling (Lamiaceae) and Ophryosporus peruvianus (Gmelin) King & H. Rob. (Asteraceae).
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Aptdo. Postal 1761, Lima 100, Peru.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Joaquina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albán
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lock
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010568:Peru; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts