Evaluating the antibacterial and anticandidal potency of mangrove, Avicennia marina

Abstract Objective To evaluate the antibiotic activity of mangrove plant, Avicennia marina ( A. marina ) against human and shrimp pathogens and to delineate bioactive constituents by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) profiling. Methods The antimicrobial activity of the different polar and non-polar extracts of A. marina was inspected by well diffusion technique against 16 bacterial pathogens and two fungal pathogens. Results Of the six organic extracts examined, methanolic extract of A. marina fairly repressed the growth of all bacterial and fungal pathogenic strains tested. In general, mangrove extract was more active against the bacterial pathogens while against yeasts, the activity was lesser. The antibiotic activity was attributed to the presence of diverse bioactive secondary metabolites. The chemical profiling of the methanolic extract was performed by GC combined with mass spectrometry. The results of GC-MS showed that the main phytoconstituents were benzeneethanol,4-hydroxy- (RT = 12.173), followed by benzaldehyde,3-methyl- (RT = 6.811). Finally, the GC-MS data evinced that the antimicrobial activity of A. marina was due to the synergistic effect of all constituents or the activity of major constituents. Conclusions Considering the urgent need of novel antibiotics, the present study brings out a new insight on the exploration of mangroves for antibiotic production in future.