Preliminary phytochemical and antimicrobial investigations of extracts of Haloxylon scoparium

Although pharmacological industries have produced a number of new antibiotics, resistance of microorganisms to these drugs has increased. Some antibiotics have become almost obsolete because of drug resistance. In the course of our research program on medicinal plants, we investigated Haloxylon scoparium a species in Moroccan Sahara. In the present study, five crude extracts, including methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, petrol ether and water extracts from the aerial parts of H. scoparium at different doses of 500, 300 and 50 mg/ml were tested against fungi and bacteria using the diffusion method. Experimental work showed that only the concentration of 500 mg/ml of ethyl acetate extract have an antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus a Gram-positive bacteria.