Comparative antimicrobial studies on plant species known as ’Pasak Bumi': Eurycoma longifolia Jack., Rennelia elliptica Korth. and Trivalvaria macrophylla miq.

Abstract

Pasak Bumi is a local name for a medicinal plant in Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a famous medicinal plant and commonly used in traditional medicine as an aphrodisiac, as well as in the treatment of malaria. Pasak Bumi is a commercial name for Eurycoma longifolia (Simaroubaceae) plant species. Besides Eurycoma longifolia there are two other plant species also known locally as Pasak Bumi, Rennelia elliptica (Rubiaceae) and Trivalvaria macrophylla (Annonaceae). This study was performed to investigate the antimicrobial activities of the different species of Pasak Bumi and its total phenol contents. The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract was determined using the Agar Well Diffusion method at various concentrations while the phenol content was determined by the Folin - Ciocalteu method. The results of the ethanol extract from the different root showed that the T. macrophylla had the highest phenol content, and the highest activity index (AI) was found in the E. longifolia (0.96 at 1000 µg concentration). The results of this study show that the three different Pasak Bumi have potential as antimicrobials against oral pathogen; 1 yeast: Candida albicans, and 3 bacterias: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus sobrinus.