THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM (L.) MERR. & PERRY AGAINST ORAL BACTERIA AND ITS ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMUTAGENIC ACTIVITIES

Plants are an important source of substances which are claimed to induce biological activities. Although there are a few studies on antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of this plant, antimutagenic activity has not been studied and there is no study in Turkey. Antibacterial activities of Syzygium aromaticum against oral pathogens have not been reported until today. The scope of this work was to investigate the biological activities of S. aromaticum different extracts. The various extracts were screened for antibacterial activity. The bacteria were isolated from oral flora by traditional methods. The plant extracts were tested by Kirby-Bauer method. Other antibacterial activities tests are MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) and MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration). In addition to, the antioxidant activities of plant extracts were screened by the stable DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl1- picrylhydrazyl hydrate) free-radical. The antimutagenicity of the plant extracts were determined by Ames test using Salmonella typimurium strains. The highest antibacterial activity was determined as 20 mm inhibition zone from methanol extracts. The highest DPPH scavenging activity was found as 82% from aqueous extract. S. aromaticum extracts have antibacterial, antioxidant and antimutagenic potentials. Our results support the use of this plant in traditional medicine and show that some of the plant extracts possess compounds with good biological activities.