European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND MODE OF ACTION OF SELECTED PHENOLIC ACIDS AGAINST SOME PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

*Yasser M. Kamel

ABSTRACT

There has been growing concern about the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria worldwide, so it is important to explore alternative effective antimicrobial compounds. This work was designed to evaluate the antibacterial activities of gallic and caffeic acids against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria with the attempt to elucidate their mode of action through estimation of various bacterial physiological indices as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), releasing of intracellular potassium ions (K+) and membrane permeabilization. The results show that both acids inhibited the growth of both types of bacteria with various degrees and their effect on gram-negative bacteria was greater than that on gram positive. Moreover, caffeic acid had an antibacterial effect more potent than Gallic acid. The current study emphasizes the potential use of caffeic and gallic acids as a good source of new antibacterial products, particularly against gram-negative strains.

Keywords: MIC, MBC.