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Antibacterial property of few plants used as
chewing stick-A review
Abstract
Healthy environment of the oral cavity reflects the health of the oral tissues and
teeth. Good oral health and healthy teeth results in overall health and well-being of our
body. Apart from the impact on nutritional status, poor oral health can adversely affect
speech and self-esteem and may lead to different dental diseases.
The use of herbs and plants for cleaning teeth and treating different oral diseases
has been practiced in India since time immemorial. The traditional toothbrush or
chewing stick, known as datun, is used by different population of India. Pencil-sized
sticks are fashioned from certain plant-parts and end parts of the plants are chewed until
it looks like a brush. The brush-end is used to clean teeth in a way like the use of a
toothbrush. Studies done on different parts of plants reported to have antibacterial
property. As most of the oral diseases are due to bacterial infections and it has been well
documented that medicinal plants possess significant antibacterial activity against
various microorganisms. This paper reviewed the finding relating to the studies of few
plants.
Keywors- Antibacterial, Extract, Chewing stick
Introduction
The knowledge of the consequences of maintaining oral hygiene is not new for
Indians. The great physician and surgeon Sushruta, who lived in the 6th century
described the use of dental fiber pencil by the Indians. The Hindu Vedas contain
description of hygiene procedures, which are suggested to do twice a day. Twigs of
various aromatic shrubs are used for cleaning teeth. Traditionally various Ayurvedic
preparations were made specifically for dental application to get relieve from oral
diseases.
The most common dental diseases affecting the teeth are periodontal disease and
dental caries. Periodontal disease affects mostly the older age groups, whereas dental
caries affects mostly the children and young adults. It has been observed that sticks used
for cleaning teeth helps to inhibit the growth of certain oral pathogens associated with
development of dental caries, gingival and periodontal diseases1.
Natural products have been in use for thousands of years in folk medicine for
several purposes and are now recognised universally as basis for number of critical
human health, social, and financial systems and benefits 2. There are approximately
1,250 Indian plants used for medicinal purpose 3. Researcher reported that natural
phytochemicals could offer an alternative natural remedy by replacing antibiotics and
represent a promising approach in prevention and cure for dental caries and other oral
infections 4.
Few plants used as Chewing stick
Azadirachta indica(Neem):
Taxonomic HierarchyKingdom -Plantae – plants, planta, vegetal, plants
Subkingdom-Viridiplantae,Infrakingdom- Streptophyta-land plants
Superdivision- Embryophyta ,Division- Tracheophyta- vascular plants, tracheophytes
Subdivision- Spermatophytina- Spermatophytes, seed plants, phaneogames
Class- Mongoliopsida, Superorder- Rosanae ,Order- Sapindales
Family- Maliaceae- Mahogany, Genus- Azadirachta A Juss ,
Species- Azadirachta indica A Juss-neem
Neem grows well in tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is found in India,
Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal and Pakistan. Neem is known as ‘arista’. Sanskrit- meaning
of arista is perfect, complete and imperishable.
Fruit, seeds, oil, leaves, roots, bark and almost every part of the tree is bitter and
contain compounds with proven antiseptic, antiviral, antipyretic antiinflammatory, antiulcer and antibacterial, antifungal, anti plasmodial, and anti diabetic properties 5,6. The
use of Neem twigs as tooth brush is an age old method practiced by Indian population.
Neem contains the alkaloid margosine, resins, gum, chloride, fluoride, silica,sulfur,
oils,tannins, saponins, flavenoids, sterols, and calcium 7,8. Presence of fluoride in Neem
stick is known to exert an anti-cariogenic action. Silica acts as an abrasive and prevents
plaque accumulation. Alkaloids are considered to exert an analgesic action which also
contributes towards oral health. The oils have carminative, antiseptic, and analgesic
effects 9.
Neem or Azadirachta indica mouth wash is observed to inhibit the growth of S.
mutans. Tannins exert an astringent effect and form a coating over the enamel, thus
protecting tooth decay 10. Flavenoids have an anti-cariogenic property, which is also
present in tea 11. Wolinsky et al., reported that the pre-treated by of saliva-conditioned
hydroxyapatite with neem-stick extract prior to exposure to bacteria showed significant
reduction in bacterial adhesion12. Prashant et al., undertook an in-vitro study of the effect
of mango and neem extract on four micro organisms causing dental caries, Streptococcus
mutans, Streptococcus salivavius, Streptococcus mitis, and Streptococcus sanguis and
emphasized the fact that Neem extract produced the maximum zone of inhibition on
Streptococcus mutans at 50% concentration. In 5% concentration also, neem extract
showed some inhibition against all the four species of organisms 13. Venugopal et al.,
observed that the respondent who used Neem chewing sticks are less affected with dental
caries than the non users 14.
Mangifera indica L (Mango tree):
Taxonomic HierarchyKingdom Plantae – Plants,Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta –Seed plants,Division Magnoliophyta –Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons, Subclass - Rosidae
Order - Sapindales,Family - Anacardiaceae – Sumac family
Genus - Mangifera L. – mango, Species Mangifera indica L. – mango
Mango tree is found mainly in South Asia and are found in nature as wild
mangoes. It may produce fruits for 40 years or more. Mango trees are deep-root
evergreen tree that achieve the height of 90 feet and width of 80 feet.
Mango seed kernels containe considerable quantity of phenolic compounds,
lipid, unsaponifiable matter and a small quantity of crude protein, but the quality of
protein was good because it’s rich essential amino acids content with maximum values
of leucine, valine and lysine. Eight phenolic compounds were identified within mango
seed with tannin and vanillin in highest amount. Stearic acid is the main saturated fatty
acid while oleic acid is unsaturated fatty acid. It is a good source of polyphenol 15.
Mirghani et al., reported from their study that mango seed kernel showed good
antibacterial activity against four strains of gram positive and gram negative bacteria16.
Prakash et al., reported that antibacterial effect of two verity of mango seed kernel
extract against several bacteria has been recognised and considered as one of the most
important property associated with their probable biological applications 17. In
vitro antibacterial activities of ethanol and methanol extracts of mango bulb showed
inhibitions to tested organisms with variable inhibition zones against Mycobacterium
smegmatis , Candida albicans and Aspergilllus niger 18. Elongvan et al., found aqueous
extract of mango was effective against both S mutans and L acidophilus at high (50%)
concentrations 19.
Camellia sinensis L.( Tea tree):
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom Plantae – plantes, planta, vegetal, plants ,Subkingdom-Viridiplantae
Infrakingdom- Streptophyta- land plants, Superdivision-Embryophyta
Division- Tracheophyta-vascular plants, tracheophytes
Subdivision-Spermatophytina-Spermatophytes,seed,plants, haneogames
Class- Mongoliopsida, Superorder- Asteranae, Order-Ericales
Family- Theaceae – tea, Genus-Camellia L. – tea
Species- Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze – tea
Tea is cultivated worldwide and of the total amount of tea produced and
consumed, 78% is black, 20% is green, and 2% is oolong tea 20, 21. Black tea is popular in
western and in south Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and India, while green and
oolong teas are used in East Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Taiwan. Assam is
the world's largest tea-growing region. Though Assam generally denotes the black teas,
the region also produces small quantities of green and white teas as well with their own
distinctive characteristics22.It contain small amount of xanthine, tannin, flavenoids,
quercetin, kaempferol and saponin23.
In several animal experiments green tea and black tea have been shown to
decrease plaque score and caries index. Antibacterial activity of tea polyphenol
decreases, when the extent of tea fermentation is long, implying stronger activity in
green tea than black tea 24, 25. Green tea catechins, particularly epicagallotechin gallete
EGCG and epicatechin gallete (ECG), have antibacterial activity against both Grampositive and Gram-negative bacteria 26,27. Eric et al., found that both green tea and black
tea showed inhibitory effects on Gram-positive but not Gram-negative bacteria28.
Catechins and theaflavins, polyphenolic compounds derived from tea have been reported
to prevent tooth decay and oral cancer29. Extracts of tea have shown significant
bactericidal activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
concentrations available in ordinarily brewed tea 30.
Vitex Nigundi L (Posotia):
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom -Plantae – Plants, Subkingdom-Tracheobionta – vascular plants
Superdivision-Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division-Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class-Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass-Asteridae
Order-Lamiales
Family-Verbenaceae – Verbena family
Genus-Vitex L. – chastetree
Posotia (Vitex negundo) is an important medicinal plant widely distributed
throughout India, Sind, Ceylon, Afghanistan, Philippine Islands and Tropical Africa,
Madagascar and China 31,32. It is commonly known as five leafed chaste tree or monk’s
pepper. It has many flowers with bluish purple colour. The fruit is rounded, when ripe it
become black and juicy, and about 4 mm in diameter. The plant is bitter. It is used as
astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic etc. Though almost all of its parts
are used in Ayurveda and Unani medicine, the extracts from its leaves and roots are the
most important in the field of medicine and drug 33.
Phytochemical studies of Vitex negundi have afforded several types of
compounds, such as volatile oils, terpenes (triterpenes, diterpenes, sesquiterpenes),
lignans, flavonoids and steroids 34,35.
Study of vitex nigundo extracts were evaluated for antibacterial potential against
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
strains by Khokra et al. Ethanol and methanol extracts of the leaves are found to be
active inhibiting agents against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria36. In
another study, petroleum ether and chloroform extracts had shown better antibacterial
activity against gram-positive bacteria 37. Oral administration of vitex nigundi claimed to
have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antibacterial property38. It is used as a mouthwash
to treat periodontal disease and to get relieve from toothache39. Srinivas et al., found
from their study that crude extract of hexane, chloroform and methanol of leaf and
flower of vitex nigundi exhibited potential bactericidal properties40. Renuka et al.,
observed that aqueous extract of Vitex negundo has more antibacterial property against
staphalococcus Aureus, E coli and Klebsilla pneumoni than the methanol and chloroform
extract 41. Nagarsekar et al., concluded from their study that Vitex negundo has
antimicrobial activity against gram positive microorganisms and suggests that it can be
developed as indigenous antimicrobial agent 42.
Jatropha Curcas L (Bhotera):
Kingdom -Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom-Tracheobionta – vascular plants
Superdivision-Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division-Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class-Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass-Rosidae
Order-Euphorbiales
Family-Jatropha L – Nettlespurge
Genus Jatropha carcass L. – Barbados nut
Jatropha grows in tropical and sub tropical regions. Jatropha is not sensitive to
day length (flowering is independent of latitude) and may flower at any time of the
year43. It is a succulent deep rooted shrub that sheds its leaves during the dry season,
which make it well suited for semi-arid conditions.
Jatropha curcas leaves, which show antileukemic activity contain a-amyrin,
campesterol,stigmasterol, beta sitosterol and its derivatives. Further, leaves contain rare
C-Glucosyl-flavonoids like vitexin and isovitexin. Protein (mostly lectins), and oil,
largely of oleic acid, linoleic acids, curcasin, arachidic, myristic, palmitic, and stearic
acids are also reported 44.
In various study, it is reported that J. curcas contains rare natural component,like
cyclic peptides, which are known to be strong antibacterial, anticancer and
immunosuppressive drugs45. The two major cyclopetides isolated from J. curcas latex
consists of nine amino acids known for it’s commercially use as cyclosporine. It is used
in medicinal folklore to cure various diseases by the people of Africa, Asia and Latin
America. Jatropha have been popular to cure stomachache, toothache, swelling,
inflammation, leprosy, dysentery, vertigo, anemia, diabetes, as well as to treat HIV,
ringworm, ulcers, malaria, skin diseases, bronchitis, asthma and as an aphrodisiac46,47. It
shows potent anti-neoplastic activity 48. Preparations of all parts of the plant, including
leaves and bark, seeds, fresh or as a extract, are used in traditional medicine and
veterinary purposes 49,50,51. Methanol, ethanol and water extract of the plant showed
varying degree of antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumonia etc52. The
anti-inflammatory activity of paste form of J. curcas L. root powder is confirmed through
the investigation conducted on albino mice 53.
Conclusion
Worldwide twigs of many trees have been in use for teeth cleaning from long
back. During cleaning anti-microbial constituents may get released in the oral cavity and
protect teeth and its associated parts against oral microbes. Some of the constituents of
these plants have already established and gained popularity because of its antibacterial
properties against various organisms and fungi and many more are yet to be
experimented and discovered.
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