Antimicrobial activity of the carnivorous plant Dionaea muscipula against food-related pathogenic and putrefactive bacteria.

Solvent extracts from the carnivorous plant Dionaea muscipula (Venus flytrap) were prepared using eight different organic solvents, and examined for antibacterial activity against food-related pathogenic and putrefactive bacteria. All solvent extracts showed higher antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria than against gram negative bacteria. The TLC-bioautography analysis of the extracts revealed that a yellow spot was detected at Rf value of 0.85, which showed strong antibacterial activity. The UV, MS, and NMR analyses revealed that the antibacterial compound was plumbagin.