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Joachim Hickl

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The increasing demand for alternatives to antibiotics against resistant bacteria has led to research on natural products. Aim of this study was to analyze the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of 16 Mediterranean herb extracts against representative oral microorganisms. The production of ethyl acetate extracts and the assays were carried out under established experimental conditions. The extracts were analyzed using High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the extracts from Achillea taygetea, Cistus creticus ssp. creticus, Cistus monspeliensis, Lavandula stoechas, Mentha aquatica, Mentha longifolia, Origanum vulgare, Phlomis cretica, Rosmarinus officinalis, Salvia sclarea, Satureja parnassica, Satureja thymbra, Sideritis euboea, Sideritis syriaca, Stachys spinosa, and Thymus longicaulis were determined against eight typical oral bacteria and the fungus Candida albicans. Microtiter plate test was conducted to evaluate the antibiofilm activity against Streptococcus mutans. Overall, all tested extracts efficiently suppressed the growth of obligate anaerobic bacteria. The extracts exhibited moderate to high antibiofilm activity comparable to that of chlorhexidine (CHX) against S. mutans. Interestingly, R. officinalis and O. vulgare demonstrated the highest antibacterial activity against oral bacteria. Additionally, R. officinalis and L. stoechas significantly inhibited S. mutans biofilm formation at 0.15 mg / ml. Parvimonas micra showed high susceptibility to R. officinalis, while C. albicans was sensitive to the O. vulgare extract with a minimal fungicidal concentration (MFC) of 2.50 mg / ml. These results suggest that the investigated plant extracts can be considered as alternative natural antimicrobial and antibiofilm agents against infectious oral diseases.