Indonesia has a high diversity of potential medicinal plants, which are the second-largest number of indigenous medicinal plants in the world. Syzygium polyanthum, known as Indonesian Bay Leaf or Salam, easily found, widely used in Indonesia as a spice in cooking and traditional medicine. Salam contains secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, essential oils, sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, phenols, steroids, and saponins. Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis are the main bacteria that cause commensal infection and the most common nosocomial infections. This study aims to know the antibacterial activity of the Salam ethanolic extract against Staphylococcus aureusand Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria. Salam leaves were extracted by 70% ethanol in the maceration method. Antibacterial activity was conducted by the disk diffusion method. The extract exhibits moderate activity (10.51±0.3 mm) at 75% of concentration and low activity (3.69±0.4 mm) at 100% of concentration against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis respectively. The test showed that salam leaves extract had antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Bay leaf has traditionally been used by Indonesians as a cooking spice and for disease treatment. Bay leaves contain secondary metabolites that are known to have antibacterial properties. The secondary metabolites produced are influenced by several factors, including the growth area and the extraction solvent. The main causative bacteria in nosocomial infections are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of bay leaf extract against the two gram-negative bacteria. The maceration method and 70% ethanol were used to extract bay leaves. The antibacterial activity was evaluated using the disc diffusion method. The extract exhibits the widest zone of inhibition (11.91±0,84 mm) at 100% of concentration against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The extract showed antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa but not against Escherichia coli.
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