Drug-resistant bacteria can be treated with peppermint

Researchers from Najran University in Saudi Arabia have found that peppermint (Mentha piperita) has potent antibacterial activity that can be used against many multi-drug resistant pathogens. In their study, they assessed the antimicrobial and antibacterial activities of peppermint against several pathogens.

• In their study, which was published in the Journal of Herbal Medicine, they used ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform peppermint extracts against several multi-drug resistant pathogenic bacterial clinical isolates: Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, S. aureus, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.
• They used the standard minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods to assess the antibacterial activities of these peppermint extracts.
• The results revealed that the ethyl acetate peppermint extract inhibited the growth of the tested pathogens the most, followed by the chloroform, ethanol, and methanol extracts.
• The pathogen with the lowest MIC value was seen for S. pyogenes, followed by methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis, and E. faecalis.
• On the other hand, the MBC values of all extracts were higher than the corresponding MIC for most of the pathogens.
• The findings of the study showed the antibacterial potential of peppermint against multi-drug resistant pathogens S. pyogenes, E. faecalis, S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli, and Klebsiella pneumonia.

Based on the findings of the study, the researchers concluded that peppermint can potentially be used as an antibacterial agent against many multi-drug resistant pathogens.

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Journal Reference:

Shalayel MHF, Asaad AM, Qureshi MA, Elhussein AB. ANTI-BACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF PEPPERMINT (MENTHA PIPERITA) EXTRACTS AGAINST SOME EMERGING MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT HUMAN BACTERIAL PATHOGENS. Journal of Herbal Medicine. March 2017; 7: 27-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.hermed.2016.08.003