Antibiofilm potential of plant extracts: inhibiting oral microorganisms and .

INTRODUCTION

A range of disinfectant mouthwashes are available for oral hygiene. The gold standard is Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), which, like other available products, cannot be used without side effects in the long term. However, in recent years, therapy with herbal products, often considered antiquated, has regained considerable interest. Therefore, the search for plant compounds as an alternative to existing oral disinfectants is meaningful.

METHODS

In this study, eleven Mediterranean plant extracts were tested for their antimicrobial effect . Methanol extracts of the following plants were produced by the pharmaceutical faculty of the University of Athens: , , , , , , , , , , and . The extracts were dissolved for microdilution experiments at concentrations ranging from 10 to 0.019 mg/ml. The oral pathogens tested were , , , , , , , and . , , and were used as references.

RESULTS

All extracts, except the methanol extract of , showed an antibacterial effect at concentrations ranging from 10 to 0.15 mg/ml. None of the extracts exhibited a significant antifungal effect. In general, the anaerobic pathogens could be inhibited and killed at lower concentrations compared to the aerobic pathogens. also showed good susceptibility to the extracts. Additionally, the extracts' ability to inhibit biofilm formation by was tested. at a concentration of 0.3 mg/ml showed a moderate inhibitory effect. The extracts of , , , and the methanol extract of were effective at concentrations up to 1.25 mg/ml. was able to inhibit and kill at a concentration of 0.6 mg/ml, but its effectiveness in biofilm inhibition significantly decreased at 2.5 mg/ml.

DISCUSSION

The study's hypothesis that all extracts would exhibit an antimicrobial effect was thus confirmed.