Medicinal plants with therapeutical properties are of great significance in the whole world, especially in developing countries. Anacardium occidentale Linn. is a plant widely used in the traditional medicine in our region against diarrhea, tonsillitis, bronchitis, arthritis, and inflammation. In this paper, the antimicrobial activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of the cashew tree stem was evaluated against samples of meticillin-resistant and meticillin-sensible Staphylococcus aureus, attained from patients interned at Hospital Universitário/Universidade Federal da Paraíba. The antimicrobial activity was determined by the diffusion method in solid milieu to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the extract, and it was observed in 30 samples the presence or not of inhibition zone. All the assayed samples proved to be sensible to the activity of the extract of the cashew tree, with inhibition zones diameter of 10 to 20 mm, displaying consequently great effectiveness of the extract of the cashew tree stem. Thus, the use of this plant in our region can infer a low cost and efficient therapeutical alternative against bacterial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus.
Anacardiaceae; Anacardium occidentale; Staphylococcus aureus; antimicrobial activity
