Antimicrobial activity of wild olive crude extracts in vitro

Wild olive crude extracts were screened for antibacterial activity against five different bacterial human pathogens. Four different solvents were used for the extraction. Antibacterial activities of plant extracts were compared with those of standard antibiotics. The capacity of the extracts and antibiotics were evaluated on the basis of their capacity to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria measured as zone of inhibition (ZOI, expressed in mm). Almost all bacteria showed to be sensible against the antibiotics with the value of ZOI ranging from 10-32 mm, while the effectiveness of olive extracts varied from one species to other with ZOI values of 7-12 mm. Extract obtained with methanol appeared to be the most effective against all pathogenic bacteria compared to those obtained with other solvents.