Antibacterial activity of four edible cactus extracts (Opuntia ficus-indica) on Drug-Resistant urinary tract infections bacteria

Background: Today, due to the increase in Drug-Resistant urogenital infections, introducing and identifying antimicrobial compounds of plant origin is critical. Cactus fruit, known scientifically as Opuntia, has antimicrobial effects that can inhibit the growth of pathogenic microbes or even kill them. In this Research, the antimicrobial effect of Ethanolic and Alcoholic extracts of Opontia fruit was studied. Methods: Opontia fruit extract was prepared using Ethanol by massaging (soaking) method. The antimicrobial activity of different concentrations of Opontia fruit extract against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli was evaluated in comparison with three different antibiotics by Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method. Results: The largest growth inhibition zone was observed for S. aureus, which was larger than the diameter of the halo of E. coli and P. aeruginosa. Also, the halo inhibitory zone was significant compared to different antibiotics. Then, the properties of phytochemical compounds in the Ethanolic and Ethyl Acetate extracts of Opontia fruit prevented the growth of S. aureus and E. coli isolates. Conclusion: The findings of the present study have shown the antimicrobial activity of cactus fruit extract against gram negative bacteria compared to gram positive bacteria isolated form UTI. Of course, these results need to be confirmed with more bacterial strains.