Antibiofilm and Antibacterial Activity of Urginea maritima Against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

One of the most important therapeutic challenges is fighting against infectious diseases and developing their bacteria high antibiotic resistance. Bacterial resistance is one of the reasons for the growing uses of herbs in treating bacterial infections.

The purpose of this study was investigating the antibacterial and anti-biofilm properties of the bulb of Urginea maritima against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC: 27853, ATCC: 9027) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC: 25923, ATCC: 9144).

Methanol and acetone extracts of the bulb were prepared by the Soxhlet method. The antibacterial properties of the extracts were evaluated by the agar well diffusion method, and the minimum inhibitory concentration was evaluated by the microdilution method. The anti-biofilm effect of the extracts was also measured by the microplate technique and by crystal violet dying. Determining the compounds of the U. maritima bulb was done by the GC/MS device.

Results showed that acetone extract of U. maritima bulb prevents the growth of standard and clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. The highest antibiofilm effect was related to the methanol extract of the bulb against S. aureus, with the reducing of biofilm production of about 94%. Most of the extracted compounds of the U. maritima bulb include xylene, pentane, and phenyl ethane.

The data of this study suggest that methanol and acetone extracts of the bulbs of U. maritima have potential activity as an antibacterial and antibiofilm agent, especially against S. aureus.