Antimicrobial activity of Xanthium cavanillesii extracts

Abstract

Development of new antimicrobial compounds against different microorganisms is becoming critically important, as infectious diseases are still one of the leading causes of death in the world. The pharmaceutical industry is searching for new lead compounds with novel chemical structures to overcome the increasing resistance to known antibiotics. Plants can be a useful source of these lead compounds. Xanthium cavanillesii Schouw (Asteraceae) grows wild in Uruguay, and its infusion is used in popular medicine as skin antiseptic. In this work, we present the study of the antimicrobial activity of several extracts of X. cavanillesii against different microorganisms. In the agar diffusion assays, the plant extracts showed an interesting antimicrobial activity, including activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis and Candida albicans. The extracts showed low toxicity in the acute oral assay performed with no deaths at a 200 mg/kg dose. © 2007 Informa Healthcare.