Antibacterial Activity of Pomegranate (<i>Punica granatum</i> L.) Seed and Peel Alcoholic Extracts on <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Isolated From Health Centers

Abstract

<strong>Introduction</strong>: Pomegranate (<em>Punica granatum </em>L.) is an ancient fruit with numerous phytochemical bioactive compounds. In this study, the antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of pomegranate peels and seeds were investigated against <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </em>and <em>Staphylococcus aureus </em>clinical isolates from Tabriz health centers (2017).<br /> <strong>Materials and Methods</strong>: The ethanolic extracts of pomegranate seed and peel were prepared and GC-MS chromatogram analyzed using Agilent 7890B gas chromatography. The antibacterial activities of extracts were evaluated by agar diffusion and microbroth dilution methods against clinical isolates of <em>P. aeruginosa </em>(n = 10), <em>S. aureus </em>(n = 10) and standard strains.<br /> <strong>Results</strong>: The ethanolic extracts of pomegranate seed and peel showed inhibitory effects on clinical isolates of <em>P. aeruginosa </em>and <em>S. aureus</em>. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of pomegranate peel and seed extracts were 12.5 and 25.0 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of pomegranate peel and seed extracts were found to be 25.0 and 50 mg/mL, respectively. In all of the studied bacterial isolates, the MICs and MBCs values for pomegranate seed extract were significantly higher than those for pomegranate peel extract (<em>P </em>< 0.05). The mean inhibition zones and MICs values indicated that the antibacterial activity of pomegranate peel extract had more potent effect on studied bacterial isolates compared with pomegranate seed extract.<br /> <strong>Conclusions: </strong>According to the findings, the pomegranate peel and seed extracts showed antibacterial activities against bacterial isolates in this study; however, the peel extract had a stronger antibacterial effect than the seed extract. Therefore, further studies including cell toxicity assay and in vivo investigations are recommended.