Potential Antimicrobial Activity of Plants from the Southwestern United States

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Abstract
Organic solvent extracts of 300 southwestern U.S.A. plant species in 69 families were evaluated against four microorganisms in an agar-streak bioassay. The dichloromethane extract of Guardiola platyphylla and ethanol extracts of Plumbago scandens, Acacia angustissima and Salvia sonomensis demonstrated the best spectrum of activity by completely inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans. Of the 300 species, 12 completely inhibited the growth of the gram-negative K. pneumoniae and 36 inhibited the yeast C. albicans. B. subtilis proved to be very susceptible with 188 species either completely inhibiting or slowing the growth of this gram-positive organism. S. aureus proved to be more selective with only 107 species affecting its growth. Ninety-one species demonstrated no inhibitory effects on any test organisms.