Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of various extracts obtained fromPistacia eurycarpa Yalt. on the exact time of appearance of the colonies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on solid media. For this purpose, the fatty acid compositions of the fixed oils were analyzed using Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in the fruit and peels. The fixed oils and the water-soluble extracts obtained from the plant as well as the fatty acids were added either separately or together on the surfaces of the Löwenstein Jensen and Middlebrook 7H11 agar media. Their effects on growth time of 40 strains of M. tuberculosis complex were investigated. Therefore, all of water-soluble extracts accelerated the growth of the mycobacteria in a statistically significant manner in both media. It was observed that the fixed oils and the fatty acids individually did not cause any significant effect on growth duration of the M. tuberculosis strains. Finally, the water-soluble extracts of P. eurycarpa fruit and its peel significantly accelerated the growth of M. tuberculosis by shortening the growth duration of M. tuberculosis at least by one third.

Key words: M. tuberculosis, Pistacia eurycarpa, gas chromatography – massspectrometry, growth time