Melampodium divaricatum is a species found in Latin America and in Brazil mainly in the Northeast region. It is popularly used as anti-inflammatory and cicatrizing and among several chemical compounds it can be noteworthy the presence of essential oils in aerial parts. Considering the antimicrobial potential of essential oils in vitro and in vivo as well as its ample pharmacologic potential the objective of this work was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the crude essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of M. divaricatum by the method of disc diffusion against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 9372), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Proteus mirabilis (ATCC 25933), the clinical strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei and Serratia marcescens. Only the gram-positive species S. aureus and B. subtilis showed sensitivity to the essential oil and the other analyzed strains did not have growth inhibited.
Melampodium divaricatum; Asteraceae; essential oil; antibacterial activity
