Antimicrobial Activity of the Genus Galium L.

Abstract

The common use of Galium L. plants (family Rubiaceae Juss.) in Ukrainian folk medicine for treating infectious diseases became the basis for the study of antimicrobial activity of lipophilic complexes obtained from the Galium species. Materials and Methods: The samples of herbs of Galium verum, Galium salicifolium, Galium dasypodum, Galium aparine, Galium carpaticum and Galium pseudomollugo harvested at flowering stage became the objects of the present research. Lipophilic complexes have been obtained by the exhaustive extraction of herbal drugs with chloroform in the Soxhlet apparatus. The complexes have been used as 2% alcohol solutions in 96% ethyl alcohol. The study was conducted in vitro by the agar diffusion method. Standard strains of micro-organisms were used to assess the antimicrobial activity. Results: Staphylococcus aureus was most sensitive to the studied lipophilic complexes. Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris showed low sensitivity. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis have shown moderate sensitivity. The highest activity against Candida albicans has been observed in complexes of Galium aparine, Galium dasypodum, Galium pseudomollugo. Conversly, Galium verum manifested no activity against Candida albicans. The minimum bactericidal and inhibitory concentrations were determined. The correlation between the content of individual groups of biologically active substances and the level of activity of the complexes was established. All complexes were non-toxic. Conclusion: The results obtained provided us the basis for further in-depth studies of antimicrobial and antifungal activity of the lipophilic complexes of the genus Galium L.