Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of traditional herbs and honey against fish associated bacterial pathogens

Antibacterial activity of four traditionally used medicinal plants viz.,zingiber officinale,allium sativum,mentha spicata and ocimum basilicum have been studied against fish bacterial pathogens,using agar disc diffusion method. bacterial pathogens including shigella flexneri,enterobacter amnigenus,salmonella typhimurium,and serratia odorifera were isolated from spoiled rita rita and schizothorax plagiostomus. ethanolic and methanolic extracts of naturally dried a. sativum and z. officinale significantly inhibited the growth of s. typhimurium,s. flexneri and e. amnigenus. additionally,all extracts of o. basilicum substantiated moderate inhibition of all tested pathogens whereas ethanolic,diethyl ether and chloroform extracts of m. spicata corroborated low effect against all pathogens except s. flexneri. honey also inhibited growth of s. odorifera,e. amnigenus,and s. flexneri. activity index analysis showed the potential use of these plants and honey against s. flexneri when compared to antibiotics. all extracts of medicinal plants also indicated the significant antioxidant activity. the present study shows that these traditional medicinal plants and honey could potentially be used as antibacterial and antioxidant agents. copyright 2014 zoological society of pakistan.