Anticariogenic activity of some tropical medicinal plants against Streptococcus mutans.

The methanol extracts of five tropical plants, Baeckea frutescens, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Kaempferia pandurata, Physalis angulata and Quercus infectoria, exhibited potent antibacterial activity against the cariogenic bacterium Streptococcus mutans. In particular, G. glabra, K. pandurata and P. angulata conferred fast killing bactericidal effect against S. mutans in 2 min at 50 microg/ml of extract concentration.