Antibacterial activity of combined extract of <i>Salvadora persica </i>L. and <i>Zingiber officinale</i> Rosc. in comparison to their individual extracts on <i>Streptococcus mutans</i> as common oral pathogen

Dental caries is a prevalent oral disease caused by Streptococcus mutans is one of the most common grampositive cocci and this is involved in formation of bacterial biofilm on the tooth surface. S. mutans is a major etiological agent in dental caries. The use of natural products can be alternative to antibiotics. Natural products has gained more popularity in recent years. In this study, antibacterial activities of combination of extracts of Salvadora persica L. (SP) and Zingiber officinale Rosc. (ZO) against S. mutans (SM) were performed, Along with GC-MS, analysis on individual methanolic extracts and combination of extracts of Miswak and Ginger. The antibacterial activities of combination of extracts were examined using the agar-well diffusion method and the inhibition zones were measured. The results demonstrated that the combination of extracts of S. persica and Z. officinale have significant antibacterial susceptibility against S. mutans, with inhibition zones ranging from 13.0 mm to 14.0 mm, depending on the concentration (solute percentage) of the extract. The minimum concentration (solute percentage) needed for ZO methanolic extract to inhibit the growth of SM were found to be 300 & mu;g/ml and for SP and combination ZO + SP were found to be 5 mg/ml and 75 & mu;g combined with 1.25 mg/ml, respectively. GC-MS analysis identified several bioactive compounds that may contribute to the observed antibacterial susceptibility. These results suggest that these natural products may have potential as an alternative to antibiotics for controlling oral-infections. Need further studies on different plants combination on different types solvent for their efficacy, mechanism of action of extracts. So in future, they can be used directly or products as a treatment for oral infections.