Asian Journal of Chemistry Vol. 22, No. 9 (2010), 6879-6883 Antibacterial Activity of the Seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. (Henbane) BASARAN DULGER*, BEYZA S. GONCU† and FAHRETTIN GUCIN† Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey E-mail: basarandulger@yahoo.com The methanolic extract obtained from the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. (Solanaceae) was investigated for its antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Bacillus cereus ATCC 7064, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538P, Escherichia coli ATCC 10538, Proteus vulgaris ATCC 6899, Salmonella typhimurium CCM 5445 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 by disc diffusion and microdilution method. The extracts showed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with inhibition zones of 25.0 mm and with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of 16 (32) μg/mL, respectively. Also, the extracts exhibited moderate activity the other test bacteria. The results demonstrate that the methanolic extract of the seeds of H. niger has significant activity and suggest that it may be useful in the treatment of infections. Key Words: Hyoscyamus niger, Henbane, Antibacterial activity. INTRODUCTION Medicinal plants have been used for a wide variety of purposes for many thousand of years in Turkey. In particular, extracts and oils of these plants have formed the basis of many applications, including raw and processed food preservation, pharma- ceutical, alternative medicine and natural therapies. Although medicinal plant potential in Turkey is quite large, ethnobotanical and pharmaceutical studies on these plants are inadequate. Hyoscyamus niger L. (Solanaceae), commonly known as Henbane, is widely distributed in Europe and Asia. The plant is said to possess anti-spasmodic, sedative and analgesic properties 1 . The narcotic alkaloids hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine are derived from this foul smelling weed. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Henn (chicken) and Bana (murderer) because when fowls eat the seeds of this plant, they become paralyzed 2-4 . A bibliographical survey showed that there were no reports on antimicrobial activity of this plant. So, the aim of this work is to evaluate the antibacterial activity of H. niger as wild-growing in Turkey. †Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Fatih Univesity, Istanbul, Turkey.