Results
Continuing our attempt to find new plant extracts with potential
inhibition activity against oral microorganisms, sixteen extracts from
various genus were selected to be screened. The plants belonged to three
families Lamiaceae, Cistaceae and Asteraceae and are commonly
encountered in the Mediterranean region. However, their antimicrobial
activity against typical oral pathogenic bacteria hasn’t been studied
before. Following the extraction of the plant samples with ethyl acetate
a rapid and accurate analytical method was developed, aiming to the
detection of the major active compounds in the extracts. HPTLC analysis
of the ethyl acetate extracts revealed that the most of the plants have
a rich chemical content. Plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family
contain a wide range of bioactive compounds and are well known for their
antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. They are among the
most actively used in phytotherapy and are considered important for the
pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. Lavandula stoechas ,Mentha aquatica , Mentha longifolia , Origanum
vulgare , Phlomis cretica , Rosmarinus officinalis ,Salvia sclarea , Satureja parnassica , Satureja
thymbra , Sideritis euboea , Sideritis syriaca ,Stachys spinosa and Thymus longicaulis are well studied
plants for their biological properties. Visualization of the plates at
254 nm and 366 nm revealed the presence of phenolic compounds, like the
phenolic acid caffeic acid, and mainly flavonoid aglycones, such as
apigenin and luteolin. The presence of rosmarinic acid was evident inLavandula , Mentha , Origanum , Rosmarinus ,Salvia and Thymus . Achillea sp. is a genus of the
well known medicinal plant family of Asteraceae and comprises numerous
species and wild-growing plants. A. taygetea is endemic at the
mountains Taygetos and Parnon (south Peloponnese). The plant was also
extracted and its analysis showed that it contains various flavonoids,
derivatives of apigenin and luteolin, and phenolic acids. Cistus
creticus and Cistus monspeliensis are medicinal plants that
belong to the Cistaceae family, with a well-established position in
traditional medicine of the Mediterranean basin. Similarly, several
secondary metabolites flavonoids and phenolic acids were identified in
the extracts as major components (see supplementary Fig. 1).