Investigation on antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of vitex trifolia / Siti Nasirah Mohd Abd Nasir

Nowadays, the uses of the same antibiotic or medicine can regulate a resistant of microorganism. In order to encounter these problems, a new research on Vitex trifolia or known as “daun lemuni” in Malaysia was made to investigate antibacterial activity of V. trifolia leaf extract toward Bacillus licheniformis and Escherichia coli. Besides, the study also is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential and also to identify the phytochemical compound in the V. trifolia leaf extract. Maceration extraction method was used to extract the V. trifolia leaf using two different concentrations which are 70% and 95% of ethanol. The antibacterial activity was tested by disc diffusion method based on three different concentrations, 50 mg/ml, 25 mg/ml and 12.5 mg/ml of 70% and 95% ethanol V. trifolia extract respectively. The results showed that E. coli was resistance towards the extract as there was no inhibition zone for all the test while B. licheniformis are resistant (8 mm and less) and intermediate (14-15 mm) towards the V. trifolia leaf extract. Meanwhile, anti-inflammatory test was determined by the denaturation of protein using white egg (albumin) and it shows that V. trifolia extract do have a slight potential to be as an anti-inflammatory agent as the reading are 8.920%, 12.68%, and 23% for 70% ethanol extract while for 95% ethanol extract it was at 16.9%, 24.41% and 35.21% compare to the standard, diclofenac sodium (26.29%, 33.80% and 44.13%). The positive results for phytochemical test of flavonoid, saponin and tannin might contribute to the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities shown by V. trifolia leaves. In conclusion, V. trifolia was proven that it has a very small potential to be as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent in this study