For PM1 students Maryam Sohail, Dungeun Lee, and Nour AlQubbaj, what began as a lab assignment, part of their Biology coursework, turned into a deep dive into the healing secrets of their heritage, and a potential breakthrough in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria. Their compound of choice? Vitex agnus-castus, commonly known as the chaste tree, a historically known remedy in Palestinian and Pakistani cultures (known as ka’ab maryam in Arabic). Specifically, it has been used to boost fertility and treat premenstrual symptoms, as well as headaches, influenza, and acne.

The question remained… could it specifically be used to fight bacteria?

 The Vitex was tested against four different bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium amycolatum, Escherichia coli, and Serratia marcescens. After incubating the Vitex with the bacteria, what they saw surprised them.

They found a clear inhibition of bacterial growth with significant differences between the different types of bacteria, visually indicating the strong antimicrobial properties of Vitex agnus-castus.

Students involved in this project were able to learn many skills, such as using statistical tests to compare diameters of zones of inhibition between the different types of bacteria and preparation of agar wells. Additionally, they were able to cultivate a variety of soft skills, such as writing an abstract and designing a research poster, which will be incredibly beneficial to them in the future as they go on to do their independent research projects.

The Vitex provided positive results, having statistically different diameters of inhibition zones, though this necessitates further investigation. Overall, this project provided a sufficient surface level exposure to the vast opportunities to explore plants as antimicrobial agents to combat the rising issue of antibiotic resistance, providing hope and opening many doors for future research in this field.