Limitations on the ethno-directed approach as a tool for the selection of medicinal plants with antimicrobial activity
Limitaciones en el uso del enfoque etnodirigido como herramienta para la selección de plantas antimicrobianas
Bol. latinoam. Caribe plantas med. aromát; 24 (1), 2025
Publication year: 2025
In this work, we evaluate the antimicrobial properties of three groups of plants selected by the ethnopharmacological method, reported ashaving antimicrobial and/or anti-inflammatory properties by a rural community in the Brazilian State of Pernambuco. The samples were divided into groups of seven plants reported as having antimicrobial properties (GI), another seven as having anti-inflammatory properties (GII) and eight plants reported to have both (GIII). The antimicrobial properties of these groups were compared using the disc-diffusion method for nine microorganisms: Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, acid-alcohol resistant bacillus (BAAR) and yeast. Among the samples of GI, 28.6% demonstrated activity against the micro-organisms tested, compared with 57.1% for the GII plants and 100% of GIII. This study shows, then, that the selected species should be looked more carefully that greater care should be taken in selecting species recommended by ethnopharmacological reports for studies of antimicrobial properties, since plants reported to have anti-inflammatory properties may be more active than those reported as being antimicrobial.
Evaluar la actividad antimicrobiana de tres grupos de plantas seleccionadas por el método etnodirigido, citadas como antimicrobianas y/o antiinflamatorias por una comunidad rural del estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Las muestras de las especies seleccionadas fueron divididas en grupos de siete plantas citadas como antimicrobianas (GI), siete plantas citadas como antiinflamatorias (GII) y otro grupo con ocho plantas citadas para ambas situaciones (GIII).