MORPHOANATOMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF TILLANDSIA IMPERIALIS (BROMELIACEAE)

Abstract

Tillandsia imperialis C.J. Morren ex Roezl is
a bromeliad used in Mexican folk medicine
mixed with other plant and animal parts as a
good remedy for respiratory diseases, which
are one of the main causes of morbility and
mortality in the rural population of Mexico.
The commercialization of medicinal plants
for therapeutic use must comply with high
standards for quality, safety and efficacy;
structural, microbiological and pharmaceutical studies make a decisive contribution to
this quality control. The aim of this study
was to analyze the morpho-anatomical characteristics and histochemistry of bracts and
leaves of Tillandsia imperialis and evaluate
their antimicrobial activity to corroborate
the effectiveness of this plant for traditional
uses with experimental data. Crude extracts
from the inflorescences and leaves were
evaluated on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC
29213), Streptococcus pyogenes (ATCC
08668), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922),
Streptococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Salmonella Typhi (ATCC 06539), Klebsiella
pneumoniae (ATCC 13883) and Candida
albicans (ATCC 10231). Results showed
that T. imperialis possesses important morpho-anatomical characteristics useful for
identification, including mesic and peltate
trichomes, tetracyclic stomata and nonsclerotic hypodermis with spherical silica
bodies. Microbiological research revealed
specific antimicrobial activity against respiratory pathogenic microorganisms such
as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes as well as six other bacteria.
These results indicate the existence of antimicrobial compounds in the extracts and a
correlation between the traditional uses of
this plant and the experimental data.