CARRIER HERBAL MEDICINE - AN EVALUATION OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY IN SOME FREQUENTLY USED REMEDIES

The antimicrobial properties of some traditional Carrier herbal prepar ations were evaluated using an agar dilution method. Pitch preparation s were screened against known human pathogens: Escherichia coli, Staph ylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Aspergi llus fumigatus. The results indicated definite antimicrobial activity in the pitch preparations of Picea glauca and Pinus contorta and provi de a starting point for pharmacognostic evaluation of these species. I n addition, cytoxicity assays, to test the anticancer activity of meth anolic extracts of Alnus incana and Shepherdia canadensis against mous e mastocytoma cells, were shown to be positive.