Phytochemical and microbial analyses of Berberis sp. extracts

Abstract

In the near past the use of herbs for health enhanced and scientists are studying new anti-microbial phytochemicals. Although plants have a wide variety of secondary metabolites, very few are still used as antimicrobial. This study performes phytochemical and antibacterial analysis of ethanolic extracts from Berberis vulgaris and Berberis aquifolium. Extracts were prepared from stem and root bark of Berberis sp. with 70% ethanol. After obtaining the plant extracts qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis were performed through spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography, reversed phase HPLC and UV-VIS spectra. The results showed that B. aquifolium extract has a bigger concentration of alkaloids (5.555%) than B. vulgaris extract (4.161%). The analysis from reversed phase HPLC showed that berberine concentration in B. aquifolium is 0.515 mg/ml and in B. vulgaris extract is 1.369 mg/ml, so in oregon grape is found a smaller concentration of berberine than in common barberry. The plant extracts were tested on Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) bacteria. We found inhibition between 10-12 mm on S. aureus and on E. coli between 8-10 mm. The extracts exhibited a stronger activity versus S. aureus, which demonstrates that berberine extracts are usefull in treatment of infections.