Antimicrobial activity of ethyl acetate extract of an endemic Centaurea glaberrima Tausch (Asteraceae)

Abstract

.Global health and modern medicine are facing a worldwide issue nowadays – antimicrobial resistance of microorganisms. A great interest in the pursuit of bioactive compounds from plants that can be antimicrobial drugs has been triggered due to multidrug resistance in pathogenic microorganisms and undesirable side effects of certain antibiotics (Alviano & Alviano, 2009). Ethnobotanical data suggest that many Centaurea species are traditionally used for treatment of various ailments in people and animals, as well as for nourishment (Khammar & Djeddi, 2012). Extracts obtained from Centaurea exhibit wide range of biological activity (Khammar & Djeddi, 2012) with a numerous studies concerning antimicrobial activity (Güven et al., 2005; Karamenderes et al., 2006; Özcan et al., 2019; Dimkić et al., 2020). Centaurea glaberrima Tausch (Asteraceae), Circum - Mediterranean Clade sensu Hilpold et al. (2014), is an endemic plant species that inhabits fields as well as a rocky cliffs and waste places in the West Balkans (Dostál, 1976). There is no information on biological activity of C. glaberrima therefore the aim of this study was to investigate antimicrobial potential of ethyl acetate extract of this endemic species.