Verbena officinalis a herb with promising broad spectrum antimicrobial potential

Abstract

The treatment of infectious diseases has increasingly become a serious problem as the pathogens are rapidly acquiring resistance against the current antibiotics. The herb Verbena officinalis has a great repute as ethnomedicine against infections. Keeping in view its immense medicinal scope, the present study was designed. Antimicrobial potential of its stems, leaves, and roots was evaluated against 24 strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Ethanolic extracts of stems, leaves, and roots of V. officinalis and their fractions in various solvents were assessed. The stems proved to be most potent against all the strains. Its activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was higher than the antibiotic Amoxicillin. The leaves also showed considerable activity against P. aeruginosa, Citrobacter freundii, and S. aureus. The roots turned out to be highly effective against Bacillus subtilis, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa. The study confirmed the efficacy of V. officinalis against infectious diseases. While all the three parts of the plant were active against the test micro-organisms, stems were most powerful. The plant has great potential to provide exploitable leads for new antimicrobial drugs.