Antibacterial Effects of Methanolic Extract of Medlar (Mespilus Germanica) Leaves against Some of Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria

Today, the use of natural ingredients in the food industry is one of the most important discussions in biotechnology. Medlar is an herbs that its therapeutic effects has been considered from the past years. The aim of this study was to determine of the antibacterial effects of methanolic extract of medlar leaves against some of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in vitro.

In this in vitro study, the fresh leaves of the Medlar were collected from the Lalam village. Soxhlet method was used to preparation of the medlar leaf extract. Disk diffusion method was used to evaluation of the antibacterial effect and broth microdilution method were used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration.

The maximum antibacterial activity of this extract was against Staphylococcus aureus that inhibitory zone diameter around it was 31.83 Millimeters. MIC for all tested bacteria except Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 62.5 mg/ml and MBC value of the leaves extract was variable from 62.5 to 500 mg/ml.

The results of this study show that methanolic extract of medlar leaves has a strong antibacterial effect on both gram positive and gram negative foodborne pathogenic bacteria, therefore this extract probably can be considered as a natural herbal ingredients in the form of antimicrobial or food preservative agent.