An investigation on the effect of alcoholic and aqueous extracts of Dorema aucheri (Bilhar) on some pathogenic bacteria in vitro

       Dorema aucheri is a plant that grows in Iran. In Persian it is called (Bilhar). This experimental study was carried out at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2014. After collection and preparation of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Dorema aucheri (Bilhar), The antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Bilhar was evaluated against 7 laboratory strains of microorganisms, including 4 Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis) and 3 Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris). Its effects against human pathogen microorganism were determined using “Spreading of the Extract on Medium Surface” and “Disk Agar Diffusion Method”, Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Lethal Concentration (MLC) were determined for this extract. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software using one-way ANOVA. The zone of inhibition for the ethanolic extract varied from 8 mm for P. aeruginosa to 24 mm for S. pyogenes and from 7 mm for P. aeruginosa to 19 mm for S.pyogenes in the aqueous extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts ranged between 2 mg/ml and 64 mg/ml while the minimum lethal concentration (MLC) ranged between 4 mg/ml and 256 mg/ml. Among of tested strains, P. aeruginosa has maximum MIC and MBC. 30 and 40 mg/mL Concentrations of Redcurrant have significant antimicrobial effect on bacteria. Antibacterial effect of extracts was decreased with decrease of extract concentration in disk. According to result, ethanolic extract of Dorema aucheri have antimicrobial effect on growth of all of the strains exposed analyzes and antimicrobial effect of that was maximum on Gram-positive bacterum of S. pyogenes. P. aeruginosa showed the highest level of resistance against the aqueous and ethanolic Bilhar extracts. The present study demonstrated that the ethanol leaf extract of Dorema aucheri hold an excellent potential as an antibacterial agent.

Antifungal potential of mangrove extracts against Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium italicum

      The interest in plants antimicrobial properties has been revived because of the current problems associated with the use of antibiotics. Nowadays, the fact that microorganisms tend to develop drug resistance, besides the side effects of certain antibiotics has offered considerable potentials for the development of new effective antifungal and antioxidant agents; medicinal plants are prolific sources. Avicennia marina, commonly known as grey mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae. The aim of this experimental study is determination of antifungal effect of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Avicennia marina on Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium italicum ”in vitro”. In this study, quantitative bioassay was done using disc diffusion method, Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) was carried out using broth dilution methods. The results showed that the ethanol extract of Avicennia marina leaves with “antimicrobial activity method” in 2000 μg/ml, were inhibited the growth of Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium italicum. In “disk agar diffusion test” the mentioned   extract were shown inhibiti on effect on pathogenic molds growth (p<0.05). The result showed that MIC of ethanolic extract of Avicenna marina leaves for Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium italicum was 16 and 8 mg/ml respectively. The results showed that MFC of ethanolic extract of Avicenna marina for Aspergillus flavus was 32 mg/ml, and for Penicillium italicum was 16 mg/ml. Ethanolic extract compared to the aqueous extract was more effective and has a greater inhibition effect. This study showed that the extract of Avicennia marina had antifungal effects that justify their traditional use as medicinal plants. Finally, the data suggested that Avicennia marina extracts could have notable antifungal effects

Effect of wheat-soy diet nutrient density and guanidine acetic acid supplementation on performance and energy metabolism in broiler chickens

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of different levels of guanidine acetic acid (GAA) on the performance, carcase yield and energetic molecular metabolites of breast muscle in broiler chickens fed with wheat-soy diet containing different levels of nutrient densities. 450- day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308), assigned in a completely randomised design experiment with factorial arrangement 3 × 3, 9 treatments and 5 replicates of 10 birds each. The diets included three levels of GAA supplementation (0, 0.6, 1.2 g/kg of diet) and three dietary nutrient density (ND) levels (low; 2800 kcal ME/kg, medium; 2950 kcal ME/kg and high; 3100 kcal ME/kg with constant rates of ME to other nutrients). The experimental diets were fed ad libitum from 1–42 days of age. One bird per pen was euthanized on day 10 and 42 to determine the energetic molecular metabolites concentrations of adenosine phosphate (ATP, ADP and AMP), phosphocreatine (PCr) and creatinine (CRN) in breast muscles. The inclusion of 0.6 g/kg GAA in wheat–soy diet, improved production performance, the relative weight of breast yield and increased the concentration of high phosphate energy metabolites (PCr, ATP/ADT and PCr/ATP) in breast muscle. The supplementation of high-density diet with GAA compared with the low-density diet improved broiler chicken’s performance. It is concluded that the use of GAA in diet may facilitate the conversion of high-energy phosphates to form ATP in muscles and thus improve broiler chicken’s performance