Objective The purples of this studywas to investigate the role of different components of Galla Chinensis extract on the growth of 6 kinds of cariogenic bacteria, and to find out the most effective components of Galla Chinensis extract.Methods Four different components (GCE1, GCE2, GCE3 and GCE4) were separated fromGalla Chinensis and there antibacterial activities toStreptococcus mutansATCC 25175,Streptococcus sanguisATCC 10556,Streptococcus salivariusSS 196,Actinomyces naeslundii WVU627,Actinomyces viscosusATCC 19246 andLactobacillus rhamnosusAC 413 were checked. There effects on the growth curve ofStreptococcus mutansATCC 25175 were also investigated.Results The most effective part of Galla Chinensis was found to be GCE2 and GCE4, whichwere found to be a mixture of polyphenol-rich fractions. All of the different components had an in- hibitory effect to the growth ofStreptococcus mutansATCC 25175.Conclusion All of the 4 different components of Galla Chinen- sis extract could inhibit the growth of the tested bacteria. These results suggest that the antibacterial activity of Galla Chinensis ex- tract is caused by a synergistic effect of monomeric polyphenols, which can easily bind to proteins.
