Abstract
Background:Medicinal plants possess considerable potential for discovering
new phytochemicals that could be considered as a solution to fight against
multidrug-resistant pathogens. Calendula officinalis (C. officinalis) is used
worldwide due to its antimicrobial properties. This pilot study assessed
the antibacterial activity of herbal extract and homeopathic preparation
of C. officinalis flowers against South African ESKAPE pathogens. .
Materials & Methods:Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method (with a 6.0 mm disk
diameter) was employed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of herbal extract and
homeopathic preparation against South African ESKAPE pathogens. Various ethanol
concentrations of herbal extract (50, 60, and 90%) and 62% ethanol concentration
of homeopathic preparation were tested.
Findings: The inhibitory effect of C. officinalis did not surpass that of antibiotics.
However, the ethanol herbal extract of C. officinalis showed some antibacterial
activity against ESKAPE pathogens compared to its homeopathic preparation.
Moreover, 50% ethanol extract of C. officinalis (20 μL) showed significant
antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus species compared to its homeopathic
preparation.
Conclusion: The rapid spread of antibiotic resistance necessitates the search for
plant-based antibacterials. Due to their wealth in phytochemicals, medicinal plants
provide a rich resource for producing novel antibacterial drugs. The current study
attempted to demonstrate the inhibitory activities of ethanol herbal extract (HEs)
and homeopathic mother tincture (MT) of C. officinalis flowers against ESKAPE
pathogens and Escherichia coli species.