Antibacterial Activity of the Wild Mushrooms against Human Pathogens

Abstract

Antimicrobial activity of two wild mushrooms groups namely Ganoderma spp. and Agaricus spp. against pathogenic bacteria of human was tested. The activity of the fungal mass was studied by direct cross inoculation techniques and that of chloroform extract of the fungi grown in liquid culture media was tested by agar well diffusion technique. The study revealed that fungal body of Ganodarma was ineffective against all the tested bacterial pathogens, while the extract of the same mushroom was effective against Salmonell typhi, S. paratyphy, S. dysentriae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, Klebsella oxytoca, P. vulgaris, P. mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and ineffective against Escherichia coli and Klebsella pneumoniae. in direct cross inoculation, Agaricus spp. totally inhibited Salmonella typhi, S. paratyphi. Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa, V. cholera, K pneumoniae, P. vulgaris and P. mirabilis, and the rest were inhibited partially. The chloroform extract of Agaricus spp. was effective against all of the tested bacteria.

Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 7, 2006