Screening of antimicrobial activity of Cistus ladanifer and Arbutus unedo extracts.

In this work, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of different crude extracts obtained from Cistus ladanifer L. and Arbutus unedo L. was investigated. The ethanol, methanol and acetone/water extracts of Cistus ladanifer and Arbutus unedo were prepared using different extraction methods and their antimicrobial activities against reference strains, including three Gram-positive, five Gram-negative and three yeasts, and against clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, were investigated. All the extracts inhibited more than one microorganism; moreover all of them presented antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria, Klebsiella pneumonia, Candida tropicalis and Helicobacter pylori. It is noteworthy that the most considerable in vitro effect was observed against Helicobacter pylori. These inhibitory effects can be considered relevant to the development of new agents for inclusion in the treatment or prevention of infections by the tested strains.