Prospecting plant extracts as an adjuncts to oral hygiene in Labrador Retriever dogs

Abstract

The present study aimed to prospect plant extracts as a therapeutic resource, compared to the oral microbiota of dogs. For this purpose, ethanol extracts from different parts of Anacardium Ocidentalis (cashew tree), Stryphnodendron adstringens (barbatimão), Punica granatum (pomegranate), Uncaria tomentosa (cat's claw), Psidium guajava L. (guava), Momordica charantia L. (melon from São Caetano) and Harpagophytum procumbens (devil's claw), prepared in different concentrations. Microorganisms collected from the oral mucosa of 12 Labrador dogs, maintained under the same management and feeding, were seeded in BHI Agar in a petri dish in which paper disks impregnated with 20µL of each extract were circulated. 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate solution was used as a positive control. The plates were incubated for 12 hours at 36 ºC. Three swabs were collected for each animal and each experiment was carried out in triplicate. The results of the inhibition halo measurements were subjected to the Kruskall-Wallis analysis of variance, followed by the Dunn test, with a significance level of 5%. Based on the results, pomegranate, guava, and barbatimão extracts were selected, as they were statistically significant at concentrations of 250; 125; 62,6mg/mL which suggests that the three are potential candidates for use in the development of pharmaceutical products for use in oral hygiene of dogs.