A Novel Antibacterial Agent from Eichhornia crassipes (Water Hyacinth) Josiah Christopher Cita Hati Christian Senior School-Indonesia, josh.christo@hotmail.com 10.32 mm. The ampicillin produces higher inhibition effect than the extracts, with diameter of 20.94 mm.
1. Introduction
Average Diameter of Inhibition Zone/mm
Bacterial infection in humans is an indiscriminating concern to countries worldwide. Some of the contributors are Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli. Large number of it occurs in developing countries with poor economic condition such as countries in Africa and Asia. Eichhornia crassipes, also known as water hyacinth in English, is a floating hydrophytic plant that is notorious for its invasive ability. Due to its prolificness, the plant constantly and quickly causes eutrophication and retardation of the flow of the water it lives in. This results in the need of constant removal of this plant by the people [1]. This research has led to the discovery of using the abundantly found Eichhornia crassipes, as a cheap yet effective source of antibacterial agent.
25,00 20,94 20,00 15,45 15,00
13,63 10,32
10,00 5,00 0,00
0,00
Test Samples
2. Method and Experiment Design
Fig. 1 Average results of the first experiment: average diameter of inhibition zones.
The ethanol extract of Eichhornia crassipes is first purified through centrifugation and pasteurization, and then diluted into 3 different concentrations; 75%, 50% and 25%. In three trials, each of the three Eichhornia crassipes extract concentrations is tested against the two bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, in vitro, by the cylinder plate assay method. Water is used as negative control and ampicillin is used as positive control and comparison, being a representative of conventional antibacterial agents. The size of zone of inhibition produced after incubation will be the measure of the antibacterial effect of the extract.
Presence of bacteria in the new nutrient media of the second experiment indicates that the extract is bacteriostatic. The antibacterial property of Eichhornia crassipes is due to the presence of two biosactive chemicals; flavonoid and alkaloid [2, 3].
4. Conclusion Eichhornia crassipes extract possesses antibacterial properties, and is bacteriostatic. Therefore, Eichhornia crassipes is a good and cheaper substitute of antibacterial due to its easy accessibility and abundance.
A second experiment is conducted to test whether the extract is bacteriostatic or bactericidal. The second experiment involves the transfer of the inhibition zone liquid into a new nutrient media. Presence of bacteria on the new media after 24 hours incubation will determine the type of the antibacterial activity.
5. References [1] Victor, R. (2001). Water hyacinth. Retrieved from http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/141 [2] Lata, N. (2010). Quantification and identification of alkaloids of eichhornia crassipes: the world’s worst aquatic plant. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 3(6). [3] Lata, N., & Veenapani, D. (2010). Isolation of flavonoids from eichhornia crassipes: The world's worst aquatic plant. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 3(9).
3. Result and Analysis The negative control shows no inhibition effect, indicated by the absence of inhibition zone. The highest inhibition effect is produced by the 75% concentration, with inhibition zone of diameter 15.45 mm. The smallest inhibition effect is produced by the 25% concentration, with diameter of
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