Antimicrobial activities and phytochemical analysis of Tamarix gallica extracts

Microbial contaminations and resistance to antibiotics suggest us to explore the traditional medicine, mainly by discovering new natural products from plants like Tamarix genus. In the present work, the antimicrobial activities of Tamarix gallica leaves and flowers were assessed. Results showed that flower extracts have the highest antibacterial activity especially against Micrococcus luteus (zi = 25 mm). This organ is also distinguished by the best antifungal activities especially against Candida glabrata (zi = 14.67 mm) and Candida albicans (zi = 14.33 mm). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were identical for all samples except for C. albicans (MIC = 0.292 mg/mL). Regarding the minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs), results showed concentrations superior to 37 mg/mL using leaf extracts and 18 mg/mL using flower ones. Thereby, flower and leaf extracts showed a bacteriostatic effect. The phytochemical tests by LC-ESI-TOF-MS demonstrated the presence of five flavonoids in flower extracts, including quercetin and kaempferol. However, the extract from leaves showed the existence of 6 compounds including quercetin 3-O-glucuronide. These data suggest that T. gallica could be a promising source of natural products in the field of functional foods and nutraceutical industries.