IN VITRO ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF DOGWOOD FRUIT (Cornus mas L.) PUREE

Abstract

The in vitro antimicrobial effect of ground dogwood fruit puree (Cornus mas L.) was tested using the classic agar-gel diffusion method. Sixteen microbial strains of the species Esherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans were used, respectively by 1 reference (ATCC) and 3 clinical isolates of each species. A high antimicrobial activity of the investigated plant product was found. The tested dogwood puree showed a well-expressed inhibitory effect against the microbial strains, exceeding that of the broad-spectrum antibiotic Thiamphenicol used as a control. The quantities of the tested microorganisms, added at a final concentration of 2.10^6 cells/ml puree, were reduced by almost half after about 2 hours. After 24 hours, 50% of E. coli cells, 42% of S. enterica cells, 25% of S. aureus cells and 28% of C. albicans cells remained viable in the dogwood puree.