Antibacterial and Antifungal Effects of Nigella Sativa Extracts against S. Aureus, P. Aeroginosa and C. Albicans

Nigella sativa seeds (blackseed; kalonji) have been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases including diarrhea and asthma. In this study, the antibacterial and antifungal effects of the aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts of the seeds against standard and hospital strains of Candida albicans, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus (CPSA) and Pseudomonas aeroginosa were investigated and compared with standard drugs, clotrimazole, cloxacillin and gentamicin respectively. Aqueous and methanol extracts were prepared using reflux device and the chloroform extract was prepared by the wetting method. 50 samples from each microorganism were collected from different biological samples such as wound, blood, urine and CSF and the inhibitory effects of the extracts were assessed using agar dilution, cylinder plate and disk diffusion methods. The aqueous extract did not show any effect, but the other extracts showed high inhibitory effects against all the microorganisms in all the three methods and can be suggested as a subject of more extensive investigations in this field.