Evaluación de la actividad antibacteriana del extracto vegetal de las hojas de Solanum granuloso-leprosum Dunal

Abstract

Plants are sources of biologically active molecules that can be used to treat different conditions. Solanum granuloso-leprosum, known as “hu’i moneha”, is a species native to Paraguay, whose pharmacological properties and chemical composition are still unknown. However, this plant is popularly used as a painkiller, to relieve coughs, purify the blood and treat oral pain such as cavities. For this reason, due to the unknown pharmacological properties, the objective of this research was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the plant extract of the leaves of Solanum granuloso-leprosum. An experimental research was carried out, designed in random blocks, where the disc diffusion technique was used against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 13311, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, subjecting them to different concentrations of the ethanolic extract (2000, 1000, 500, and 250 μg.mL-1). Regarding the results, inhibition halos were not observed at any of the concentrations tested, a likely cause might be that the crude extract is apparently rich in fatty acids and esters. Finally, it is concluded that the leaf extract did not show antibacterial activity against the strains used under the conditions tested. However, other investigations must be carried out, varying the type of extract in relation to polarity to search for other possible biological activities and thus expand the scientific information on the therapeutic properties of the species studied.