Investigation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of some endemic plants

Infectious diseases occur when microorganisms enter the human body and stimulate the host immune response. While the incidence of infectious diseases decreased with the discovery of antibiotics, it was brought up again with the development of resistance by microorganisms. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the urgent need for new antibiotics for some pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, the development of new antibiotics and alternatives has become a necessity. With the understanding that some phytochemicals in plants show antimicrobial activity, studies have focused on this aspect. On the other hand, recent studies have shown that reactive oxygen and nitrogen-induced oxidative stress plays a role in various inflammatory and degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis and aging. Although synthetic antioxidants are effective, stable and inexpensive, there are some potential side effects. Plants contain many natural phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. For this purpose, many plant extracts were investigated in terms of antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The aim of this study is that investigation of phytochemical tests, phenolic compound contents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of endemic plant species in Turkey, Quercus coccifera (leaf, prickly bark and seed), Euphorbia rigida (leaf), Onanis natrix (leaf and flower), Prunus laurocerasus L. (leaf and fruit) and Rheum ribes. As a result of the study, it was determined that Quercus coccifera leaf and seed extracts showed antimicrobial activity and all plant extracts had rich phytochemical content and high antioxidant activity. However, in order for these plants to be used medicinally, purification and structure determination of the active ingredients and further studies are required.