Abstract Sixteen extracts prepared with petroleum ether and ethanol from the capitula obtained from eight Helichrysum species including H. armenium subsp. araxinum, H. armenium subsp. armenium, H. arenarium, H. pallasii, H. stoechas subsp. barrelieri, H. sanguineum, H. plicatum subsp. plicatum and H. graveolens (Asteraceae) growing in Turkey were screened for their antibacterial activity against ten different bacteria, six of which are the Gram-positive bacteria; namely Bacillus cereus, B. megaterium, Streptococcus mutans, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes as well as four Gram-negative bacteria; Salmonella enteritis, Shigella sonnei, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli using disk diffusion method. Ampicilline, chloramphenicol, and erythromycin were employed as the reference drugs. Among the extracts screened, the ethanol extracts of H. pallasii, H. armenium subsp. armenium, H. plicatum subsp. plicatum and H. graveolens were found to be the most active ones with the wider antibacterial spectrum. The Helichrysum species screened herein also displayed remarkable inhibitory activity against the enteric-type of bacteria, S. enteritis and S. sonnei. Özet H. armenium subsp. araxinum, H. armenium subsp. armenium, H. arenarium, H. pallasii, H. stoechas subsp. barrelieri, H. sanguineum, H. plicatum subsp. plicatum and H. graveolens (Asteraceae) olmak üzere Türkiye’de yetisen 8 Helichrysum türünden petrol eteri ve etanol ile hazirlanan onalti ekstre, 6’si Gram-pozitif (Bacillus cereus, B. megaterium, Streptococcus mutans, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus ve Listeria monocytogenes), 4’ü Gram-negatif (Salmonella enteritis, Shigella sonnei, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ve Escherichia coli) olan 10 farkli bakteriye karsi antibakteriyel aktiviteleri açisindan disk diffüzyon yöntemi kullanilarak taranmistir. Ampisilin, kloramfenikol ve eritromisin referans ilaçlar olarak kullanilmistir. Taranan ekstreler içinde, H. pallasii, H. armenium subsp. armenium, H. plicatum subsp. plicatum ve H. graveolens’e ait etanollü ekstreler, daha genis antibakteriyel spektrumlariyla en aktif ekstreler olarak bulunmustur. Burada taranan Helichrysum ekstreleri ayni zamanda enterik tipte bakteriler olan S. enteritis ve S. sonnei’ye karsi da önemli bir inhibitör aktivite göstermislerdir.

Keywords: Helichrysum,Asteraceae, Antibacterial Activity, Disk diffusion