SMOKES OF PISTACIA ATLANTICA RESIN ACT’S AS AN ANTIBACTERIAL AGENT

Introduction: Different parts of Pistacia species have been investigated for various pharmacological activities. Most of the traditional uses reports for resin of P. atlantica are from Iran and have been used for the treatment of digestive, hepatic, and kidney diseases. The gum resin of P. atlantica that called mastics are used for wound healing activity, and treatment of brain and gastrointestinal disorders. Among triterpenes (precursors to steroids) isolated from the resin of three sub-species of P. atlantica, 3-O-acetyl-3 epiisomasticadienolic acid has been identified as the most effective antimicrobial agent. Pistacia species have demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against various Gram-negative bacteria including: Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis, Enterobacter aerogenes Pseudomonas fluorescens, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Proteus vulgaris and Gram-positive bacteria including: Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, and Corynebacterium sp.Objectives: Because of traditional uses, the smoke of Pesitacia atlantica resin was evaluated to show antibacterial effects on E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus.Material methods: The lawn culture that also called carpet culture was applied on EMB and Blood agar respectively for E. coli ATCC 35218 and S. aureus ATCC 6538 strains. The plates with 3cm distance, were reversely placed on the petri dish that containing 1gr of Pesitacia resin on hot plate that covered by reversed beaker. It was set on 200oC for 3 minutes and plates were exposed to the smoke of resin for 1 minute. After procedure plates were incubated at 37 oC for 18 h.results: All smoke exposed groups compare to control group showed growth reduction but the decrease of growth rate was significantly lower on E. coli species than S. aureus and it means the E. coli is more susceptible to smoke compounds.