Antibacterial Activity of Lidah Mertua (Sansevieria Trifasciata Prain.) Leaves Extract on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND:

Infection is the most common diseases in developing country, including Indonesia. Bacteria that often causes infection is Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. One of the traditional plants that can be used as an antibacterial is lidah mertua.

AIM:

The purpose of this study was to find out the profile of chemical compounds by thin layer chromatography method and determine the antibacterial activity of Lidah Mertua leaves by in vitro.

METHODS:

This research conducted an experimentally using non-polar, semipolar, and polar as solvents to get extract against E. coli and S. aureus as bacterial testing. The antibacterial activity using agar diffusion method to get minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).

RESULTS:

The result of the research on thin layer chromatography showed that the compounds contained in the Lidah Mertua leaves were polifenol, steroids and alkaloids. The data obtained were tabulated and analysed descriptively. The antibacterial activity show that n-hexane extract does not provide inhibitory activity. MIC value show that aethyl acetate extract of lidah mertua leaves inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus at concentration 50 mg/mL and 25 mg/mL with diameters of inhibition zone is 8.50 mm and 8.20 mm and methanol extract of lidah mertua leaves inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus at concentration 12.5 mg/mL and 25 mg/mL with diameters of inhibition zone is 8.46 mm and 8.32 mm.

CONCLUSION:

The profile of chemical compounds by thin layer chromatography method showed that the compounds contained in the Lidah Mertua leaves were polifenol, steroids and alkaloids. The antibacterial activity show that n-hexane extract does not provide inhibitory activity, but aethyl acetate extract of lidah mertua leaves inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus.

Toxicity Assay of Fermented Artocarpus altilis Leaves Using Brine Shrimp Lethality Test

Fermented  Artocarpus altilis leaves contains phenolic compound  that has pharmacological activity. Differences in fermentation method, i.e., aerobic and anaerobic fermentation might change its characteristics and biological activity. The purpose of this study was to compare toxicity properties between aerobically and anaerobically fermented  Artocarpus altilis leaves  using brine shrimp lethality (BSL) test. Both types of fermented leaves were cold extracted using ethanol solvent (1:6) for 3 x 24 hours. Phytochemical screening was then performed to examine the presence of secondary metabolite compounds. BSL test was performed in 7 treatment groups, i.e., negative control, 1000, 500, 100, 50, 25, 12.5 ppm of extract. Each vial contained 10 Artemia larvae, extract, and sea water up to 10 ml. Toxicity is measured by calculating LC50 after 24 hours observation. The  experiment was repeated three times. The results of the study showed that LC50 of aerobic extract was 712 ppm, thus it can be categorized as toxic, while that of anaerobic extract is 1.927 ppm, or non-toxic to the Artemia salina larvae. In conclusion, aerobically fermented  Artocarpus altilis leaves had toxicity potency, while anaerobically fermented  Artocarpus altilis leaves had no toxicity potency against Artemia salina in BSL test. Key words: Artocarpus altilis, brine shrimp lethality test, toxicity.