Antimicrobial effects of Leek (Allium ampeloprasum L. subsp. iranicum) extract on some food-borne pathogens in vitro

Nowadays, a new approach has emerged to the use of herbal medicines to treat infections, since herbal medicines are stronger antimicrobial activity and fewer side effects than chemical drugs. Aim of this study was assessing the antimicrobial effects of Leek extract on 5 Pathogenic Strains. In this study different concentrations of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Leek leaves were prepared and antibacterial effects of extracts were investigated by pour plate, agar well, broth microdilution, broth microdilution and triphenyltetrazolium chloride indicator methods. To analyze the data, one-way ANOVA was used and the Duncan test was performed to compare the means. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the aqueous extract of Leek for Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis were 256, 128, 64,32 and 32mg/ml, respectively, and the MIC of the ethanolic extract were 128, 64, 64, 32, and 16mg/ml, respectively. Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the aqueous extract of Leek were 256, 128, 128, 64 and 32mg/ml, and the MBC of the ethanolic extract were 256, 256, 128, 32, and 32/ml, respectively. The results showed that the Leek extract had a significant antibacterial effect on all studied bacteria. That could especially prevent growth effectively in Gram-positive bacteria.