Antimicrobial Potential of Ethanol Extract from Some Plants Against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The number of reports of bacterial infections that are difficult to treat with antibiotics has led to the need for new alternatives for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. One alternative is to utilize phytochemical bioactive compounds derived from natural ingredients which contain antimicrobial compounds. Some plants medicine from Sumatra island that should have potential as antimicrobials are the leaves of the matoa plant (Pometia pinnata Merr), mahang (Macaranga tanarius L), and jirak (Eurya acuminata DC). The purpose of this study was to discover the antimicrobial properties of the ethanol extracts from the leaves of matoa (Pometia pinnata Merr), mahang (Macaranga tanarius L) and jirak (Eurya acuminate DC), as well as finding their effective concentrations to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. In addition, this study also aimed to find out the active compounds contained in the leaves ethanol extract as antimicrobial against the two test bacteria. Extraction was carried out by maceration method using 96% ethanol solvent. The antimicrobial activity test was done using the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion method with concentrations of 10; 20; 30; 40; 50; 60; 70; 80; 90; and 100%. Chloramphenicol was used for positive control and DMSO for negative control. The results show that ethanol extracts from leaves of matoa (Pometia pinnata Merr), mahang (Macaranga tanarius L), and jirak (Eurya acuminata DC) had antimicrobial activity against the growth of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 which was characterized by the formation of an inhibition zone. The ethanol extract from these three plant leaves was effective in inhibiting the growth of the two test bacteria, thus it belongs to a very strong and strong category. Phytochemical screening results show flavonoid compounds, tannins, phenolics and anthraquinones in the ethanol extract from matoa (Pometia pinnata Merr) leaves. Ethanol extract from mahang (Macaranga tanarius L) leaves contains flavonoids, steroids, tannins, phenolics, and anthraquinones, while jirak (Eurya acuminata DC) the contains steroids, tannins, phenolics, saponins, and anthraquinones. Potential ethanol extract of medicinal plants from Indonesia serves as an antibacterial that causes skin infections in Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and all extract ethanol of medicinal plants contain metabolite secondary such as tannin, phenolic, flavonoid, steroid, saponins, anthraquinones.