Abstract

Objective: To examine the prevalence of microorganisms and the antibacterial feature within commonly available flowers including Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Ixora coccinea, Ipomoea digitata, Allamanda cathartica, Nymphaea nouchali and Vinca rosea, samples were randomly collected from different areas in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Methods: Conventional cultural and biochemical methods were applied to isolate and enumerate the flower accessing microorganisms. Flower extracts were prepared using the solvent extraction methods and the subsequent antibacterial activities were demonstrated. Results: The total bacterial load and fungal load was estimated to be around 107-108 CFU/g and 105-107 CFU/g, respectively. All samples were found to be shaded with Staphylococcus spp. (~107 CFU/g) while the prevalence of actinomycetes was also observed except for Ipomoea digitata. The prevalence of Gram negative pathogenic bacteria was also noted within more than 50% samples. The in vitro antibacterial activity of these flowers, especially of Ixora coccinea, Hibiscus rosasinensis, Allamanda cathartica and Nymphaea nouchali in alcoholic extracts (methanol and ethanol) was notable against most of the tested microorganisms. Conclusions: The contaminating microbial flora identified within the flower samples studied could be a potential environmental hazard if disseminated. Conversely the revealed antibacterial traits of the flower extracts would be useful alternate remedies of the synthetic drugs for disease medication.

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