The present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro antimicrobial potential of the hydroalcoholic extract from the bark of Abarema cochliocarpos (Gomes) Barneby & Grimes, known as 'barbatimão', over the strains of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 9341), Escherichia coli (ATCC 6538), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442) and over a Clinical Sample isolated from Staphylococcus aureus (SAIACLIN). Samples of 'barbatimão' bark were collected from a specimen at the INDES Ecological Park, located at Vila de Sauípe, Bahia to prepare the hydroalcoholic extract. The bacterial susceptibility tests were carried through the disk diffusion method and through the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The hydroalcoholic extract of A. cochliocarpos only inhibited the growth of the Gram-positive bacteria. S. aureus (ATCC 6538), SAIACLIN and M. luteus had presented increasing zones of bacterial inhibition in accordance with the increase of the extract concentration (1, 2 and 3 mg/disco), that had varied between 8 to 15 mm, from 8 to 16 mm and from 13 to 22 mm for the respective microorganisms. The results had confirmed the capacity of inhibition of the in vitro bacterial growth for the extract of the bark of A. cochliocarpos, corroborating the popular stories.
Abarema cochliocarpos; Mimosaceae; antimicrobial activity
