• The Evaluation of antimicrobial effects of esfand (Peganum harmala) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
  • Roozbeh Yalfani,1,* Pantea Zamanifar ,2 Ali Kazemi,3
    1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Science, Islamic Azad University,Varamin-Pishva branch, Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology Science, Islamic Azad University,Varamin-Pishva branch, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Science, Islamic Azad University,Varamin-Pishva branch, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Herbal medicine is the art and science of using herbs for promoting health and preventing and treating illness. It has persisted as the world's primary form of medicine since the beginning of time, with a written history more than 5000 years old. A number of scientific investigations have highlighted the importance and the contribution of many plant families as medicinal plants. Medicinal plants play a vital role for the development of new drugs. The aim of this study was the assessment of antimicrobial effects of esfand (Peganum harmala) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) extractions on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.
  • Methods: Extracts of the plants were prepared by using Soxhlet extractor. Disk diffusion assay was used to evaluate the antimicrobial effect and for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the broth microdilution method was performed. The effect of each extract was compared with conventional antibiotics against all these pathogenic microorganisms
  • Results: The results showed that both of the extracts had antimicrobial activity. Staphylococcus aureus was more sensitive to methanolic extract of esfand (34.33 mm) than Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The effect of these extracts on gram positive bacteria was significantly higher than gram negative bacteria. The results also revealed both extracts had antifungal effects.
  • Conclusion: According to this study, it is clear that methanolic extracts of spand and lavender have a significant antibacterial and antifungal effect against pathogenic bacteria and Candida albicans, Therefore, this extract can be considered as a natural herbal product for controlling bacterial and fungal infections.
  • Keywords: Peganum harmala, Lavandula angustifolia, Antimicrobial, Disk diffusion, pathogenic microorganisms