THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE FENUGREEK SEEDS AND CORN SILK EXTRACTS

Fenugreek seeds extract included separation of trigonelline alkaloid, crude saponin, oil, cold and hot alcohol extract. Also corn silk extracts included separation of crude saponin, cold and hot alcohol extracts as well as cold and hot water extract. All these extracts were tested for their antibacterial effects. The oil and trigonelline of fenugreek seeds inhibited the growth of both Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella aerogenes at concentration of 80 and 8mg/ml, respectively. Crude saponin showed more potent inhibitory effect against the growth of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella aerogenes at concentrations of 50 and 100mg/ml, respectively. Crude alkaloids did not show any activity against uropathogenic bacteria that were tested. Hot alcohol extract of corn silk showed more potent effect than cold alcohol extract against growth of Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella aerogenes and E. coli at a concentrations of 50 and 100mg/ml. Hot and cold water extracts of corn silk showed a slight inhibitory effect against Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella aerogenes and a mild inhibitory effect against E. coli at a concentration of 25mg/ml for hot water extract and 50mg/ml and 100mg/ml for cold water extract.