Nature’s Defense: Studying the Antibiotics Properties of the Goldenrod Plant

Abstract

Plants have long been known to possess antimicrobial properties and treat various conditions, including cancer (Gonelimali et al., 2018). Recent research has accelerated the use of plant-derived drugs and supplements, pivotal in reducing the strain on fungal-based antibiotics (Veeresham, 2012). However, there have been very few studies to evaluate the individual parts of the plants and their contribution to the antimicrobial properties. This study will be crucial in creating the most potent treatment and using plants more conservatively, potentially leading to the production of different types of antibiotics. This paper focuses on evaluating the antimicrobial properties of the various parts of the Goldenrod plant and the inhibitory mechanisms they use. Tests conducted on the Goldenrod plant against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria indicate that the roots had the highest antimicrobial effect for the gram-positive bacteria, while the leaves had the highest antimicrobial effect for the gram-negative bacteria. The findings show that specific parts of the plant are specialized in specific types of antimicrobial compounds. When the antibiotics found in different parts of the plant were compared with commercial antibiotics, it was found that the antibiotics present in leaves worked similarly to Streptomycin, while the roots worked differently than any antibiotic that was available to us at the time of the study. While mass spectrometry of the plant compounds is underway, the findings of this study will be extended to other medicinal plants and will help prevent antibiotic winter and the discovery of new antibiotics.