Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Potential of Essential Oil of the Leaf of Passiflora Edulis

Abstract

The passion fruit of the genus Passiflora edulis generally presents three forms of use, that is, the in natural form, pharmaceutical applications, and industrial processes. Currently, research has reported the increasing use of oils extracted from passion fruit leaves for the purpose of bacterial inhibition. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial action of Passiflora edulis leaves extract against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcuspyogenes and Escherichia coli microorganisms using solvents with different polarities through disc diffusion and microdilution techniques. The oil extracted from the leaves of Passiflora edulis had satisfactory performance against the isolates of gram-positive bacteria S. pyogenes, in which it presented a good antimicrobial potential of inhibition compared to the other microorganisms tested. This action can be explained by the presence of constituents of the plant that cause this effect against the pathogen, such as: the presence of flavonols, proanthocyanidins, passion, polyphenols, tannins, aldehydes, among others.