Antimicrobial Activity of Persecaria pensylvanicum Extract Against Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract Introduction Staphylococcus aureus causes contagious mastitis in dairy cows with annual economic losses of 2 billion dollars in the United States alone. S. aureus mastitis remains important and difficult to eliminate using antimicrobial therapy due to its ability to form biofilm, became a small colony variant or acquires antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Antimicrobial resistant S. aureus strains including methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) have emerged and increasingly isolated from animal and animal products. Thus, developing an alternative therapeutic approach is critically needed. Natural botanical products have received greater attention as alternatives to antibiotics since they contain a diverse array of antimicrobial compounds. Methods In this study, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the extracts from herbal plant Persecaria pensylvanicum ’s flower, leaf, stem and root. This plant is also known by a common name Pennsylvania smartweed. The antimicrobial effect of the extracts was tested using minimimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bacteriocidal concentration (MBC) methods in comparison with tetracycline, a commercial antibiotic. Results We found that extract from P. pensylvanicum kills bovine mammary glands pathogenic S. aureus strain Newbould 305. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) breakpoints for extracts from flower, leave, stem and root were 62.5 µg/ml, 31.25 µg/ml, 7.8 µg/ml and S. aureus grown on blood agar was 2 µg/ml for tetracycline, 31.25 µg/ml for leaf and stem, 125 µg/ml for flower, and 187.5 µg/ml for root extracts. Conclusion The crude extracts from different body parts of P. pensylvanicum have bacteriocidal effect against S. aureus . Purified active antimicrobial phytochemical compound/s from P. pensylvanicum may serve as an alternative natural product to treat staphylococcal infections in human and animals.