Increasing resistance of bacterial strains to traditional antibiotics will result in a medical crisis in the near future unless alternative therapeutics and methods are developed. It is hypothesized that traditional herbal medicine might be an effective alternative to antibiotics, as they are commonly used to treat a variety of illnesses, including bacterial infections, in many countries. This study focused on performing standard microcidal minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays of various culinary and medicinal herbs to determine the minimum concentration of antimicrobial substance required to kill, or limit the growth of, a gram positive (<i>Bacillus spizizenii</i>) and a gram negative (<i>Escherichia coli</i>) bacterium. To replicate traditional medical practices, the herbs were prepared using hot water, ethanol, and vinegar extraction. Hot water extraction mimicked the brewing of tea, while ethanol and vinegar extractions are used in tincture preparations. Each of these solvents exhibit different polarity and pH, likely altering the population of chemicals effectively extracted from the herbs. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for the herbs extracted with each of the three methods were compared and the herb’s MIC values were also compared to the MICs of traditional antibiotics, such as amoxicillin and doxycycline.

Antimicrobial activity of natural herbs extracted with different solvents and compared to common antibiotics

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