Anti-bacterial activity of trigonella foenum-graecum against skin pathogens

Abstract

The increase in antibiotic resistance globally necessitates the search for alternative therapeutic agents. Among the common antibiotic-resistant bacteria, MRSA and MRSE cause a wide range of infections with limited treatment options. Trigonella foenum-graecum has been widely used particularly in Asian countries in food and as a supplement. In this study, the anti-bacterial activity of T. foenum-graecum essential oil, boiled aqueous and ethanolic extracts was determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Propionibacterium acnes, MRSA, and MRSE by using the agar well diffusion assay. For determination of the zone of inhibition, Clindamycin (2 µg/disc) was used as a comparison for the anti-bacterial susceptibility results. The maximum zone of inhibition was observed with the boiled aqueous extracts of T. foenum-graecum against MRSA (20 mm), while the essential oil and ethanolic extracts of T. foenum-graecum did not show any zones of inhibition against all the tested staphylococcal and P. acnes isolates. Qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids and terpenoids in all three extracts tested, among these boiled aqueous extract contained the highest number of phytochemicals which could account for the higher anti-bacterial activity exhibited by the boiled aqueous extracts. Hence, the T. foenum-graecum seeds show a potential application as an anti-bacterial agent against skin pathogens, particularly in the formulation of a skincare product.