Abstract

Abstract: Theuse of plant compounds to treat infection is an age-old practice in a large partof the world, especially in developing countries, where there is dependence ontraditional medicine for a variety of diseases. According to World HealthOrganization medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety ofdrugs. Rheum ribes is among the Polygonaceae family which is endemic inIran and a few neighboring countries. In this investigation, antimicrobialeffects ofroot, stalk and leaves methanol extracts of R. ribes against Staphylococcusaureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas auregnosa,Shigella flexneri were studied,using well diffusion method. Methanolextracts obtained from root, stalk and leaves of R. ribes exhibitedantimicrobial activity against test microorganisms. R. ribes extracts were found to be most active against S. flexneri and K.pneumoniae with inhibitory, 13.75 and 13.5 mm. Theresults suggested that extracts of R. ribes could be effectively usedagainst diseases caused by selected human pathogens.

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