ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OFMALACCA FRUIT (PHYLLANTUS EMBLICA L.)ETHANOLIC EXTRACT AND FRACTIONAGAINSTBACILLUS CEREUS FNCC0057 ANDSHIGELLA DYSENTERIAE ATCC13313

Abstract

Diarrhea is a symptom of a disease, which is characterized by increased frequency of defecation (more than three times a day) with a more fluid of feces. In Ayurvedic medicine, the fruit of Malacca (Phyllanthus emblica L.) is often used as an antibacterial and antiviral against various infectious diseases. This study aims to determine:(i) the antibacterial activities of ethanol extract and its fraction of Malacca fruit, and (ii) determine Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) against diarrhea-causing bacteria, such as Bacillus cereus FNCC0057 and Shigella dysenteriae ATCC13313. The study was conducted through several processes: (i) the determination of the plant and preparation dried fruit, (ii) extraction of dried fruit, fractionated extract, antibacterial activity test of ethanol extract and its fractions, (iii) determination MIC and MBC from the most active fractions and (iv) phytochemical screening of fraction. The results showed that ethanol extract, water fraction and ethyl acetate fraction of Malacca fruit has antibacterial activities against B. cereus FNCC0057 and S. dysenteriae ATCC13313, where the greatest activity was shown by the fraction of ethyl acetate. This fraction has MIC and MBC values of 0.187 - 0.375% (w/v) and and 0.09375 - 0.1875% (w/v) against B. cereus FNCC0057 and S. dysenteriae ATCC13313. The antibacterial activity of this fraction was probably derived from alkaloid, flavonoid, tannin, quinone, saponin, monoterpene or sesquiterpene compounds.