Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, April-June 2020, Vol. 14, No. 2 2075 Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Centaureabruguierana (Asteraceae) from Iraq Shaima H. A. ALAbbasi 1 , Talib O.H. Al-Khesraji 2 , Sirwan H.Salih 3 1 Department of Biology, College of Education, University of Samarra, Iraq, 2 Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Sciences, TikritUniversity, Iraq, 3 Department of Biology, College of Education, University of Garmian, Iraq Abstract The methanol and aqueous extracts of Centaureabruguierana. (Asteraceae) from Iraq were tested for their biological activity against two Gram positive , two Gram negative bacteria and four fungal species by using agar well diffusion method . The crude methanol extract (100mg/ml) and its dilutions and the crude aqueous extract( 100mg/ml) showed biological activity against all bacteria and fungi studied. Compared with the aqueous extracts , methanol extracts, particularly the crude one, were more bioactive against bacteria and fungi studied . Among the studied microbes, E.coli, Staphylococcus aureusand Microsporumcanis were the most sensitive species to C.bruguierana extracts tested. Methanol extract at all concentrations and aqueous extract at high concentrations showed close or more antibacterial activity( except in case of P.auruginosa) than that of the bacterial control ( tetracycline) . The crude methanol extract was more bioactive against all fungi studied than the fungal control ( nystatin ).This is the first report on the antibacterial and antifungal activities of C. bruguierana extracts from Iraq and its bordering countries. Kew words : Antibacterial, Antifungal , Asteraceae, Centaurea , Iraq. Introduction Centaurea is the fourth largest genus in the Asteraceae family ,including 300 -700 species [1] [2] [3][4] with annual, biennial and perennial plants [5] that distributed all around the world especially in Mediterranean sea region and west Asia [1][4] .In Iraq, this genus was represented by more than 30 species [6] . Species of this genus have been used in folk medicine as diuretic , stomachic , tonic, astringent, antimalarial ,antirheumatic, antidandruff, hypoglycemic and antipyretic [2][7][8[9][10] . Many investigations have been indicated the presence of different classes of active compounds in this genus which in many cases are responsible for its biological activity [10][11]. C. bruguierana (DC.)Hand.-Mazz. was reported for the first time from Iraq [12]. Our previous study [13] showed a high flavonoid content in this species. However, there is no reports on the antimicrobial activity of C. bruguierana in the literature .Therefore, this study Corresponding author : Shaima H. A. ALAbbasi Shaimaa.h.ali1986@gmail.com was conducted to evaluate the effects of the methanol and aqueous extracts of this species in four bacterial species ( two Gram positive and two Gram negative ) and four fungal species . Materials and Method Plant materials and extraction method C.bruguierana samples were collected from Tikrit province/ Salahadin Governorate (north central Iraq )in March 2018 . Plant samples were identified according [14] and confirmed by the Iraqi National Herbarium .Identified samples were kept in the Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Sciences,TikritUniversity,Iraq . Aerial flowering parts of C.bruguierana were oven dried at 40 0 C and then grinded with electrical mill. 40 g of the powdered samples were extracted with 160ml of 95%methanol or hot distilled water for 24 hours, then the liquid was filtered through gauze colth and filter paper Whatman No.1 and the filtrate was concentrated at 40 0 C. The solid residue was stored in the fridge until subsequent use . For in vitro assay ,1gm of the solid residue were dissolved in 10ml of the same solvents