Antimicrobiological studies on Turkish Cistus species

The genus Cistus L., mainly growing in the Mediterranean region, is represented by five species in Turkey: C. creticus L., C. laurifolius L., C. monspeliensis L., C. parviflorus Lam., and C. salviifolius L. In this study, in vitro antimicrobial activity of water, methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and buthanol extracts, prepared from dried and powdered leaves and the fruits of the five Cistus species, were investigated by the disk diffusion method against the following microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213 and ATCC 25923), Streptococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Bacillus cereus (RSKK 1122), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). Chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and the remaining aqueous extracts, obtained from the fractionation of methanol extract, were also tested. All of the extracts showed some activity against B. subtilis and B. cereus. Lyophylized extracts showed the highest activity against Staphylococcus aureus 25923 and 29213. Buthanol extracts of the leaves and fruits of C. creticus showed the highest activity. Extracts of all Cistus species did not show any activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans.