Antimicrobial effects of Kelussia odoratissima extracts against food borne and food spoilage bacteria

The aim of this paper was to investigate the antibacterial potential of Kelussia odoratissima Mozff extract against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Karafs-eKoohi with the scientific name of Kelussia odoratissima is an Iranian endemic edible plant in the middle region of Iran with enormous use as food, spice and medicinal herb. The antibacterial effect of the extracts was investigated using pour plate and disk diffusion methods. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC(and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) were also studied using the dilution method. Repeated measure ANOVA was used for data analysis. The results showed that in disk diffusion method all concentrations of ethanolic extract had inhibitory effect against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC(of Kelussia odoratissima leaves of aqueous and ethanolic extracts for Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus were 16 and 8 mg/ml, and for Enterobacter aerogenes were 32 and 16 mg/ml, respectively. Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of Kelussia odoratissima leaves of aqueous and ethanolic extracts for Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus were 32 and 16 mg/ml, and for Enterobacter aerogenes were 64 and 32mg/ml, respectively. The results showed that the extract of Kelussia odoratissima had a satisfactory antimicrobial activity and the ethanolic extract of Kelussia odoratissima leaves had greater inhibitory effects on the strains studied compared to aqueous extract in vitro. A significant correlation was also observed between zone of inhibition and concentration of extracts.