Evaluation of Antibacterial and antifungal effects of aqueous, methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Ocimum basilicum on gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria

Incidence of drug resistance against chemical antimicrobial drugs has led the use of medicinal plants for treatment of infections in recent years. The aim of this study was to examine possible antibacterial and antifungal effects of Methanolic, Ethanolic and Aqueous extracts of Ocimum basilicum plant in vitro. After preparing the extracts with maceration method, antimicrobial activities and Minimum inhibitory concentration were examined by Disk-Diffusion, serial dilution method against bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungi Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. To standardize of study, we used anti biogram disks and ATCC bacteria. The results showed that, the methanolic extract of Ocimum basilicum had maximum antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger with the diameter of inhibition zone (20±1.02 and 18±1.20mm) respectively. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentration of Methanolic extract against Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger was documented in 12.50 and 25 mg/mL, respectively. The aqueous extract of the Ocimum basilicum did not have a good effect compared to methanolic and ethanolic extracts. Discussion & conclusions: The Ocimum basilicum methanolic extract has significant inhibitory role in the growth of pathogenic bacteria in vitro. Meanwhile, more researches are recommended due to reaching more inclusive results.