Antibacterial potential of nepenthes ampullaria pitcher’s cup extract against foodborne bacteria / Faridatul Wahida Saini

Chemical preservatives may have adverse effects on human health for preventing food deterioration and the microorganisms that cause foodborne illness. As a result of these issues, there is a rising need to identify a possibly useful, healthy preservative that can keep the foodstuff. Nepenthes is an interesting species because of their distinctive shape, which includes a pitcher organ for carnivorous feeding. In Malaysia, it is locally called "periuk kera." This study aimed to determine the antibacterial potential of the methanolic extract of N.ampullaria against foodborne bacteria which are Bacillus licheniformis and Escherichia coli. N.ampullaria extract was prepared at different concentrations (10, 30, 50 mg/ml) in DMSO (5%) and tested for antibacterial activity using the agar disc diffusion technique. The result for the zone of inhibition showed that extracts at 10mg/ml, 30mg/ml and 50mg/ml has antibacterial activity on B. licheniformis (7.00mm, 9.67mm and 11.35mm) and E. coli (7.67mm,9.00mm and 11.33mm) respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by using tube dilution method and the values obtained were 10mg/ml for both bacteria. Whereas the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was determined by using Streak plate technique and the value that was obtained is 10mg/ml for Escherichia coli while for Bacillus licheniformis, there is no result obtained. This is due to the fact that the current concentration of N.ampullaria extracts used does not seem effective in preventing the growth of B.licheniformis. However, N.ampullaria extract possesses substantial antibacterial action against pathogenic bacteria and might be a source of another effective and useful antibacterial agent.