Abstract

The in vitro antibacterial activities and time kill regimes of crude methanol extract of Helichrysum pedunculatum was assessed using standard microbiological procedures. The experiment was conducted against a panel of bacterial species made up of clinical, environmental and reference strains. The extract was active against eleven of the twenty-one bacteria tested at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values for all the susceptible bacteria ranged between 0.1 – 5.0 mg/ml. The average log reduction in viable cell count in time kill assay ranged between 0.17 Log₁₀ to 6.37 Log₁₀ cfu/ml after 6 h of interaction, and between 0.14 Log₁₀ and 6.99 Log₁₀ cfu/ml after 12 h interaction in 1×MIC and 2×MIC of the extract. The extract was bactericidal against 8 of the test bacteria at 1×MIC and against 9 of the test bacteria at 2×MIC from 12 h interaction period. At both MIC levels, the extract was bactericidal to all the reference strains and four of the six environmental strains at both MIC levels after 12 h of interaction. Also the extract was bactericidal to four of the six environmental strains at both MIC levels after 12 h of interaction and bacteriostatic during the first 6 h of interaction. Inhibitory levels of crude methanol extract of H. pedunculatum could be bacteriostatic or bactericidal independent of Gram’s characteristic.

Key words: Helichrysum pedunculatum, methanol extract, MIC, time-kill.