Antimicrobial potentials of aqueous and methanolic crude extracts of Zingiber officinale and Foeniculum vulgare

Kamal Benlafya, Mohamed El Far

Abstract

Ginger roots(Zingiber officinale) and fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) have been widely used in traditional medicine for treatment of various diseases and some of their major constituents are reported to be pharmacologically active. This study was designed to evaluate the potential of different extracts of Ginger and fennel as natural antimicrobial. Indeed, Ginger and Fennel extracts were obtained using maceration extraction by two solvents (water and methanol) and the antimicrobial properties(antibacterial and antifungal) of the aqueous and methanolic extracts were assessed against Gram positive and negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella abony) and one yeast (Candida albicans) strains by determining growth inhibition zone. The results suggest that only aqueous extracts of fennel and ginger have efficient antimicrobial activity against the microorganisms tested.