BIOACTIVITY OF BACCHARIS DRACUNCULIFOLIA EXTRACT AGAINST PATHOGENIC BACTERIA AND YEAST

Baccharis dracunculifolia is known as "field rosemary", it is a plant native to Brazil, with known antifungal, antirheumatic, antibacterial and hepatoprotective properties. In this sense, its use was evaluated in the fight against pathogenic bacteria like Aeromonas hydrophila and Escherichia coli, besides yeasts like Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, responsible for contamination and deterioration of meats; as well as the analysis of its antioxidant properties. The extract was obtained by drying the plants, harvested during the summer in Maringa-PR, with addition of alcohol with high purity and distilled water, to obtain the hydroalcoholic extract, and filtration, concentrated in a rotary evaporator, in order to eliminate completely the solvent and finally lyophilized. The methods of DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and polyphenols were performed to determine the antioxidant activity of B. dracunculifolia extract, with results expressed in milligrams of gallic acid per gram. The microdilution technique serially in 96 well plates in Muller Hinton broth for A. hydrofila and E. coli and Sabouraud for yeasts C. albicans and S. cerevisiae was used to obtain the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal (MBC). The incubation temperature was 35 °C for the bacteria and 28 °C for the yeasts, for 24 h. The antioxidant activity of B. dracunculifolia extract by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and polyphenols was 31.83 mg EAG/g; 26.17 mg EAG/g; 0.81 mg EAG/g and 8.36 mg EAG/g; respectively. The CIM and CBM obtained for A. hydrophila were 62.5 μg/mL and 250 μg/mL for E. coli 250 μg/mL and 500 μg/mL for C. albicans 125 μg/mL and 125 μg/mL; and for S. cerevisiae 125μg/mL and 125μg/mL, respectively. Based on the results obtained the extract has good antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, higher studies should be used for application in slaughterhouses as a natural preservative.