Antibacterial activity of some plants from the family Apiaceae growing wild in Serbia

Twelve plants from the family Apiaceae were selected for preliminary screening for their antibacterial activities in vitro. The following plants were tested: Aegopodium podagraria, Angelica silvestris, Chaerophyllum bulbosum, Daucus carota subsp. carota, Foeniculum vulgare, Heracleum sphondylium, Pastinaca sativa, Peucedanum cerevaria, Peucedanum oreoselinum, Pimpinella saxifraga, Sanicula europea, Torilis anthriscus. Aerial parts of plants were used. The antibacterial activities of water, ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts were tested by disk diffusion method against 11 bacterial species: Agrobacterium radiobacter var. tumefaciens, Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus subtilis, Erwinia carotovora, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas glycinea and Staphylococcus aureus. The water extracts of Torilis anthriscus and Daucus carota subsp. carota showed significant inhibitory activity. Ethanol extracts of Chaerophyllum bulbosum, Heracleum sphondylium, Peucedanum oreoselinum and Pimpinella saxifraga were active in relation to 10 tested bacteria. The most active extract of Pastinaca sativa, Foeniculum vulgare and Peucedanum cerevaria was the ethyl acetate extract. The extracts of Sanicula europea did not show inhibitory activity. The comparative analysis of the antibacterial activities of the tested plants showed that the intensity of their antibacterial effect depends on taxonomic characteristics of bacteria. The least resistant bacteria were Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas glycinea, Agrobacterium radiobacter var. tumefaciens and Bacillus subtilis.The greatest resistance showed Escherichia coli which was significantly inhibited only by the ethanol extract of Peucedanum oreoselinum.

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