Anacardium occidentale L. Anacardiaceae, known as cashew, commonly found in northeastern of Brazil, has high levels of secondary metabolites, particularly tannins, used as raw material for herbal medicines. An efficient alternative to decontaminate plant products is the total sterilization or reduction of the initial microbial count, the process of gamma irradiation with 60Co. The objective of this study was to analyze the antimicrobial activity of crude extracts of bark and leaves of A. occidentale, based on the quantification of total phenols and tannins, before and after exposure to gamma radiation from 60Co. The extracts were obtained in the laboratory by cold maceration in ethanol, filtered and dryness. They were divided into non-irradiated control group (0 kGy) and irradiated: groups exposed to gamma radiation at doses of 5, 7.5 and 10 kGy. The total phenols was obtained by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and tannins, by the precipitation of casein. The antimicrobial potential activities of these extracts were also evaluated. The results showed that gamma radiation doses employed in this study did not influence statistically the percentage of total phenols and tannins in the bark extracts, at levels ranging from 5.73±0.14 and 5.20±0.14, respectively. The levels of metabolites in the leaves were statistically (p<0.05) influenced by radiation, observed average total phenols between 3.13±0.04 (0 kGy) and 3.50±0.08 (10 kGy), and tannin between 2.47±0.06 (0 kGy) and 2.93±0.04 (10 kGy). The extracts of bark and leaves were active against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Candida albicans. Gamma radiation caused an increase in antimicrobial activity of extracts against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive), with average inhibition zones for shells: 14.33±058 (0 kGy) and 22.33±0.58 (10 kGy), and leaves: 11.33±0.58 (0 kGy) and 19.00±1.00 (10 kGy). Exposure to radiation caused changes in physical and chemical constituents of phenolic extracts of leaves of cashew, increasing levels of tannins.

Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Brown (Verbenaceae), amplamente distribuída em todo o território brasileiro, é conhecida popularmente como erva cidreira e utilizada na medicina popular como analgésica, febrífuga, antiinflamatória, antigripal e nas afecções hepáticas. Extratos brutos foram preparados a partir de plantas cultivadas, de modo padronizado, em horta medicinal do Laboratório de Fitoterapia da Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuária (IPA) para a verificação da atividade antimicrobiana, in vitro, pelo método de difusão em disco de papel. A concentração inibitória mínima (CIM) foi determinada para os extratos que exibiram melhores atividades. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que os extratos clorofórmico, acetônico e etanólico da raiz foram ativos frente a Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Candida albicans e Monilia sitophila e os extratos hexânicos, etanólicos e metanólicos das folhas inibiram S. aureus, M. luteus, B. subtilis, M. smegmatis e M. sitophila. A menor concentração inibitória (CIM = 31,2 µg/mL), foi obtida para o extrato clorofórmico da raiz frente a B. subtilis e M. luteus.

Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Brown (Verbenaceae), commonly known as "erva cidreira", is widely distributed throughout Brazil and is used in folk medicine as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, cold remedy, as well as to reduce fevers and treat hepatic afflictions. Crude extracts of L. alba were prepared from plants cultivated in the medicinal garden of the Laboratório de Fitoterapia of the Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuária (IPA), State of Pernambuco, Brazil, using standard techniques to test their in vitro antibacterial activity using the paper disk-diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for those extracts demonstrating the highest activity. The results demonstrated that the chloroform, acetone and ethanol extracts of root material were active against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Candida albicans and Monilia sitophila, while the hexane, ethanol and methanol extracts of leaves inhibited the growth of S. aureus, M. luteus, B. subtilis, M. smegmatis and M. sitophila. The lowest inhibitory concentration (MIC = 31.2 µg/mL) was obtained with the chloroform root extract against B. subtilis and M. luteus.