Ottonia martiana Miq., Piperaceae, known in Brazilian folk medicine as "anestésia", is an herbaceous shrub found in Atlantic Tropical Forest. Due to its anesthetic action on the mucous membranes of the mouth, roots and aerial parts are commonly used to relief toothache, usually as alcoholic macerates (mouth washing) or by chewing parts of the plant. As most microorganisms are acquiring resistance to traditional antibiotics, the search for new antimicrobials agents, specially from plants, is being intensified. Based on this, the activity of the crude ethanolic extract from roots and aerial parts (EBEtOH) of O. martiana against Enterococcus faecium (ATCC 6569), Enterobacter aerogenes (ATCC 13048) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442) was evaluated using the agar difusion and bioautographic methods. Results from the agar diffusion assay showed that O. martiana EBEtOH has a potencial effect against E. faecium, which was corroborated by the presence of inhibition zones in the bioautographic test, whereas no inhibitory action against the other assayed bacteria was observed.
Ottonia martiana; Enterococcus faecium; Enterobacter aerogenes; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; bioautography