Volume 57, 29 October 2014, Pages 1-9
a
Department of Livestock and Pasture, Department of Biochemistry
and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, South Africa
b Agricultural and Rural Development Research Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, South Africa
c Department of Animal Breeding, Mendel University Brno, Faculty of Agronomy, Czech Republic, Czech Republic
b Agricultural and Rural Development Research Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, South Africa
c Department of Animal Breeding, Mendel University Brno, Faculty of Agronomy, Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Abstract
This study aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial potential of Usnea barbata lichen as a medicinal plant
against selected Staphylococcus species isolated from raw milk of cows.
In-vitro screening of methanol and ethyl-acetate extracts from Usnea
barbata lichen were evaluated to determine their antimicrobial activity
against thirteen different Staphylococcus species. The selected
organisms were isolated from raw bovine milk and identified using
several biochemical tests and confirmed with API staph kit. The
antimicrobial activity of the extracts were evaluated using both the
agar well diffusion method (at 5 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml and 20 mg/ml) and the
broth micro-dilution technique to determine the mean zone of inhibition
and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), respectively. Both the
methanol and ethyl-acetate extracts showed variable antimicrobial
activity against the Staphylococcus species with mean zones of
inhibition ranging from 0-34 mm in diameter at 5 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml and 20
mg/ml, respectively. Susceptibility by the Staphylococcus species tested
in the methanol and the ethyl-acetate extract was 92.31 % and 53.85 %,
respectively. The MIC result for the methanol extract ranged from 0.04
to 10 mg/ml, while that of the ethyl-acetate extract ranged from 0.16 to
5 mg/ml. Results from this study revealed the in vitro microbial
activity of Usnea barbata extracts which indicate its potential as a medicinal plant. © 2014 by the authors; licensee Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Dummerstorf, Germany.
Author keywords
Antimicrobial resistance; Mastitis; Medicinal plant; Microbial activity
Indexed keywords
Species Index: Staphylococcus; Usnea barbata
ISSN: 00039438Source Type: Journal
Original language: English
DOI: 10.7482/0003-9438-57-025Document Type: Article
Publisher: Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology
Funding Details
Sponsor: National Research Foundation
