UNAIR NEWS – One of UNAIR researcher, Muhammad Thohawi Elziyad Purnama, drh., M.Si., still active doing study research. This time, the research is inhibiting the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa with soursop leaf extract.
According to him, pseudomonas aeruginosa is an average plant with a low immune condition. Environmental factors and high stress can cause infections of the respiratory tract. These include acute nosocomial pneumonia, severe infections and chronic lung infections.
“Pneumonia has been found in horses and dogs. Bacteria P. aeruginosa naturally resists several antibiotics, especially in Gram-Negative bacteria. Due to the use of antibiotics that are not under the dosage and usage rules. The solution to this problem is through the use of alternative herbal treatments, “he explained.
Soursop is one alternative herbal treatment as an antibacterial. Soursop leaves are found in tropical regions, and it can be alternative medicine. Parts of plants that have antibacterial properties are leaves due to high secondary metabolite compounds including alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, and tannins.
“The use of herbal ingredients as antibacterial provides good effectiveness in overcoming the problem of antibiotic resistance,” he said.
The results of his research and the team prove Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of soursop leaf extract on the growth of P. aeruginosa bacteria that is in the treatment with an extract concentration of 125 ppm. Phytochemicals of soursop leaf extract contain several secondary metabolite compounds: steroids, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, and glycosides.
“The compounds contained in soursop leaf extract can be used as therapy for several diseases caused by bacterial infections. Soursop leaf extract has antibacterial potential due to its active compounds, “he explained.
Furthermore, he also said that soursop leaf extract has secondary metabolite compounds, including tannins, saponins, alkaloids, and steroids, the role of these compounds in antibacterial activity is quite significant. The mechanism of tannin in antibacterial activity inhibits the activity of enzymes that bind to bacterial and fungal substrates or indirectly inhibits the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation and decreases essential ions in bacterial metabolism.
“Saponin compounds can enter and disrupt the working system of bacteria by diffusing through the outer membrane and vulnerable cell walls, then bind to the cytoplasmic membrane and interfere with and reduce cell stability and osmositias from these cells,” he concluded.
Author: Nuri Hermawan
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
References related to the text above:
https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/jvet/issue/view/3312
Fikri, F., Rahmaningtyas, IH., Purnama, MTE., Prastiya, RA. 2019. Aktivitas Antibakteri Ekstrak Daun Sirsak (Annona muricata L.) Terhadap Pertumbuhan Bakteri Pseudomonas aeruginosa Secara In Vitro. J. Vet., 20(3), 298-303.
