Phytochemical screening and evaluation of antibacterial activity of Olea europaea L.Var. sylvestris (Miller) Lear. leaves

Olea europaea L.var. Sylvestris (Miller) Lehr., of the Oleaceae family, is commonly known as the wild olive tree. It is a tree used in traditional medicine in the Mediterranean region for its leaves, which contain numerous constituents with pharmacological properties such as hypoglycemic and anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of our work is to determine the qualitative chemical composition of the leaves of this species and to evaluate their antibacterial activity. The results we obtained after performing phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract of Olea europaea L.var. sylvestris leaves showed the presence of total polyphenols such as flavonoids and tannins, as well as sterols, triterpenes, and saponins. We evaluated the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Olea europaea L.var. sylvestris using the agar diffusion method. The results obtained show that the leaves have moderate antibacterial activity. The most sensitive strains are Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris could be a solution to overcome bacterial resistance and is therefore of interest to public health.