Screening for antimicrobial activity of extracts from Zingiber officinale Rosc. var. rubrum Theilade

Abstract

Extracts from the rhizomes of Zingiber officinale Rosc. var. rubrum Theilade were tested for antimicrobial activity against 11 bacterial and 6 fungal species. Compared with standard antibiotics, extracts had low to moderate activity except for the petroleum ether extract. The activity spectrum is wide against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial as well as fungal tested. The extracts that showed the highest antimicrobial activity have similar antifungal activity with 5- Fluorocytosine at 10µg/disc against Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Other extracts showed low to moderate antibacterial activity when compared with gentamicin at 10µg/disc against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 24213 and ATCC 29213), Streptococcus faecalis, Micrococcus luteus and Proteus vulgaris.