Antibacterial activity of Momordica charantia

Momordica charantia L. belongs to the family Curcubitaceae and it isvery common in many Brazilian regions. The plant is a liana with flowers and yellow fruits that present red seeds when are ripe. Popularly known as “mel o-de-s ocaetano”,“mel o amargo” or “caba o-amargo”, it possesses many uses: antidiabetic,antihelmintic, antmicrobial, anticancerigenous and antioxidant. The phytochemicalprospection of the fresh and dried leaves extracts showed the presence of different classes of secondary metabolites, asflavonoids, alkaloids and tannins, that have demonstratedantimicrobial action. Fresh and dried leaves presented significantly antimicrobial activity against all bacterial strains tested, specially Escherichia coli. Ethyl acetate fractions were effective against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. The modulatory activity was significative too.