Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Efficacy of Camellia Sinensis and Alstonia Scholaris Extracts on Streptococcus Mutans and Lactobacillus Acidophilus - An in Vitro Study.

Abstract

Context Dental caries is showing an upward trend in India and there is a need to explore innovative strategies to prevent the disease. Literature evaluating antibacterial activity of Camellia sinensis and Alstonia scholaris plant extracts on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus is practically non-existent. Objectives - To assess the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and antimicrobial efficacy of Camellia sinensis and Alstonia scholaris on S. mutans and L. acidophilus. Materials and method: This was an in vitro study carried over a period of three months. The leaves of Camellia sinensis and Alstonia scholaris were collected, and crushed to obtain coarse powder. Plant extraction was performed using Soxhelet appartus. Anti- oxidant assay was performed for both the plant extracts against DPPH radical using Spectrophotometer at 517nm. Inhibition percentage was calculated through absorbance value measured from spectrophotometer. Anti- microbial activity of both the plant extracts against Microbial Type Culture Collection strains of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus was assessed using Agar well diffusion method. 0.2% Chlorhexidine was used as positive control and ethanol as negative control. The experiment was performed in triplicates. Mean inhibition zone in each set of experiment was computed using three readings after accounting for well diameter. One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Tukey’s post hoc test and independent sample‘t’ test were performed to compare the mean inhibition zone. Results: The plant extracts were effective against Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Camellia sinensis at 4% concentration produced a mean inhibition zone of 30.3± 3.9 mm against Streptococcus mutans and 23.8± 2.2 mm against Lactobacillus acidophilus. Alstonia scholaris at 10% concentration produced a mean inhibition zone of 21.6± 2.8 mm against Streptococcus mutans and 24.1± 1.6 mm against Lactobacillus acidophilus. Conclusion: Camellia sinensis and Alstonia scholaris have significant anti- oxidant and anti- microbial property against Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus.