Resumo

ESPINOZA RUIZ, Marisol et al. Preliminary analysis of antimicrobial activity of medicinal plant Chik chawa (Tagetes nelsonii Greenm.). Rev Cubana Plant Med [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.4. ISSN 1028-4796.

INTRODUCTION: Tagetes nelsonii Greenm, usually called Chik chawa, is a plant used in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, México, because of natives from that region used it in a traditional way for empirical treatment of diarrheas, headache and fever, which has been adopted as a medicinal plant. OBJECTIVE: to determine the in vitro antimicrobial activity of T. nelsonii extracts. METHODS: three extracts were prepared: hexanic, methanolic and dichloromethanic from the T. nelsonii foliage, as well as a infusion, which were assayed versus 7 different microbial strains by agar plate diffusion method. In active extracts the inhibitory minimal concentration were determined versus susceptible microbial strains and the bactericidal minimal concentrations were determined by broth dilution method. RESULTS: four of the 7 study strains were sensible including P. mirabilis to methanolic extract, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa (ATCC 27863) to methanolic, hexanic and dichloromethanic extracts, and C. albicans to dichloromethanic extract. Chik chawa infussion has not antimicrobial activity. CONCLUSIONS: methanolic extract versus P. mirabilis y S. aureus showed this kind of activity on bacterial strains commonly associated with human diseases. Other studies are necessary to elucidate the active principles accounting for the antibacterial activity in the assayed extracts.

Palavras-chave : Tagetes nelsonii; organic extracts; antimicrobial actibity; bactericide.