Determination of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities and Synergistic effect with Antibiotics of Morus nigra L. Extracts Grown in Elazig Province

Possible side effects of drugs used as antimicrobial agents and microorganisms' resistance to these drugs pose a great danger to human health. This situation led to the scientific community to new searches. It is known that many herbal products consumed as food are also used by the public for the protection of diseases. However, many of these are still not confirmed by scientific data. In this regard, in the current study, Morus nigra L. (black mulberry) fresh fruit extracts (ethanol, methanol and ethyl acetate) collected from Elazığ province and used by local people to alleviate many diseases, total antioxidant content of total phenolic and total flavonoids capacities were determined. However, the phytochemical content of the ethanol extract was evaluated by RP-HPLC. In addition, their antimicrobial properties and synergies with antibiotics (chloramphenicol, novobiosin and nalidixic acid) were tested. The total phenolic content value and antioxidant properties of ethanol extract were significantly higher than the others. The major component of this extract was determined as chlorogenic acid. It was determined that the extracts showed low efficacy against the test microorganisms, however, all extract antibiotic mixtures exhibited a full synergistic effect on P. aeroginosa, a serious pathogen, except for the methanol extract / chloramphenicol combination. The full synergy is important in terms of ensuring that the antibiotic is more effective at a lower dose. As a result, due to the biological activities of M. nigra fruit extracts, it is thought to have the potential to be used as a natural and alternative source in the food and pharmaceutical industries.