The present study sought to investigate the antibacterial activity of the methanol and acetone leaf extracts of three different medicinal plants selected from Saudi Arabia. The three medicinal plants are Aerva javanica, Ocimum basilicum and Artemisia absinthium. The microorganisms assayed for antibacterial activity were: gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, and the gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antibacterial activity was evaluated through measuring the zones of inhibition. All leaf extracts showed significant broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. The acetone extracts have in general produced larger bacterial inhibition zones than the methanol extracts. The study concluded that all three medicinal plants exhibited antibacterial properties with Artemisia absinthium showing the most potent effect, followed by Aerva javanica and finally Ocimum basilicum.
Medicinal Plants, Antibacterial Properties, Folk medicine, Antibacterial Assay
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