Department of Diagnostic and Allied Health Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Management & Science University, Malaysia
Staphylococci are a group of bacteria that can cause various diseases. The high rate of hospital-acquired infections is caused by highly resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus or multidrug-resistant bacteria. The study was conducted to discover and further investigate the antimicrobial effects together with a combination of Salvadora persica and Mentha arvensis plants. The methods used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and synergism effect of S. persica and M. arvensis are disc diffusion (Kirby-Bauer), microdilution-broth method, and checkerboard assay. According to the results, the extracts showed significant antibacterial activities against the bacteria, with M arvensis showing a greater zone of inhibition against S. aureus (11 ± 1.00 mm) and S. epidermidis (9.00 ± 1.00 mm) compared to that of S. persica against S. aureus (6.67 ± 0.58 mm) and S. epidermidis (7.00 ± 1.00 mm). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results showed that S. persica could inhibit S. aureus and S. epidermidis at 25 mg/mL, whereas M. arvensis could inhibit both bacteria at 50 mg/mL. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) results indicated that both extracts are bactericidal. Furthermore, the combination of plant extracts exhibited a synergism effect against S. aureus (FICI=0.5) and S. epidermidis (FICI=0.75). This concludes that the combination of both plants is able to demonstrate and produce a synergism effect on Staphylococci spp.
Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Mentha arvensis (mint), Salvadora persica (miswak), synergistic, infection, zone of inhibition
