Determinación del efecto antioxidante y antimicrobiano de extractos de diferentes tipos de ortiga (Urtica dioica, Urtica urens, Urtica leptophylla, Urera baccifera) frente a cepas de Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes y Bacillus cereus

Abstract

Medicinal plants have become a hope for the development of alternative medicines, for this reason, the WHO promotes the study of medicines based on plant sources, since they frequently generate few side effects, minimal toxicity and combat antimicrobial resistance. The Urticaceae family has a high index of bioactive molecules. This research focuses on evaluating the biological activity of hydroalcoholic (EtOH) and methanolic (MtOH) extracts from four nettle species. Initially, the extraction was carried out, which yielded variable yields, highlighting the MtOH of U. dioica corresponding to 2.487 percent as the best result. The antioxidant capacity was determined using the DPPH technique, all the extracts present considerable antioxidant activity, however, the MtOH of U. baccifera inhibited an equivalent to 435.80 micromoles of Trolox per liter. The quantification of total phenols was measured by the Folin Ciocalteu assay, which demonstrated that EtOHs exceed MtOHs. The hydroalcoholic extraction of U. dioica showed a higher amount of phenolic compounds (87,840 milligrams of gallic acid per gram). The antimicrobial activity was estimated by the microdilution method in 96-well plates based on resazurin, with which the MIC and MBC were determined. The extracts that inhibited at a lower concentration were: MtOH from U. baccifera and U. urens to E. coli and B.cereus, EtOH from U. urens and U. dioica to S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, respectively. In conclusion, the analyzed plant extracts have considerable biological activity.