Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

This study aims to investigate the antibacterial activity of the ethanolic extract of common myrtle “Myrtus communis Linn.” leaves (Myrtaceae), specifically against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients at Tishreen University Hospital, Syria. Leaves were subjected to ultrasound-assisted extraction using the distilled-ethanol as a solvent. The dried extract, with a yield of 25.3%, was dissolved in two types of solvent Dimethylsolfoxide (DMSO), and a mixture of Tween 80 solution 10% and DMSO 8:2 and then tested for antibacterial activity using the standard disk diffusion technique. In this work, DMSO showed better properties in the improvement of the solubility and the diffusion of the prepared extract, thus enhancing its antibacterial action.The inhibition zones showed that the tested ethanolic extract has interesting activity against both tested strains with higher activity towards S. aureus.The overall results encourage the application of this extract to combat bacterial resistance, and as an additive in the food industry to control the foodborne disease caused by S. aureus.