A SURVEY OF THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF THYMUS VULGARIS AND MYRISTICA FRAGRANS ON STREPTOCOCUSS PNEUMONIAE AND PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA

Thesis Overview

<p> </p><p>The spread of drug-resistant pathogens is one of the most serious threats to public health in the 21st century. Although pharmacological industries have produced a number of new antibiotics in the last three decades, resistance to these drugs by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.projecttopics.org/the-role-of-plants-in-the-treatment-of-diseases-caused-by-micro-organisms-based-in-the-natural-products.html">micro-organisms</a>&nbsp;still remains. In general, bacteria have the genetic ability to transmit and acquire resistance to drugs, which are utilized as therapeutic agents (Cohen, 1992). Such a fact is a cause for concern, because of the number of patients in hospitals who have suppressed immunity, and due to new bacterial strains that are multi-drug resistant. Consequently, new infections can occur in hospitals resulting in high mortality as observed by Montelli and Levy (1991).</p><p>The use of herbs as first medicines is a universal phenomenon. For a long period of time, plants have been a valuable source of natural products for maintaining human health, especially in the last decade, with more intensive studies for natural therapies. Most drugs of the past were substances with a particular therapeutic action extracted from plants. Thus, medicinal plants may be defined as any plant that can be put to culinary use such as onions, fox glove, garlic and ginger (Wainright, 2001). More and more researchers find that food and their individual constituents perform similar fashion to modern drugs and sometimes better without the dreaded side effects (Serrentino, 1991).</p><p>Plant extracts have great potential as antimicrobial compounds against <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.projecttopics.org/the-role-of-plants-in-the-treatment-of-diseases-caused-by-micro-organisms-based-in-the-natural-products.html">micro-organisms</a>&nbsp;(Gisleneet al., 2000) and studies have reported that they can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by resistant microbes.Thymus vulgaris (thyme) leaves andMyristicafragrans(nutmeg) seeds are plants parts that are widely used as spices for cooking especially for flavouring meats, soups and stews. They have also been reported to have medicinal uses and possess antimicrobial abilities(Stahl-BiskupandSaez, 2002; Cho et al., 2006; Na</p> <br><p></p>