The Preliminary Study of Antimicrobial Activity of Borassus flabelifer L. Mesocarp Extract

Lontar or Borassus flabelifer is a local plant that mostly found in Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. The juice of the ripe mesocarp has been used traditionally for treatment minor oral ulcer. Microorganism is one of the factors that cause the recurrence of oral ulcer. This study was aimed to investigate the antimicrobial potency of the B. flabelifer fresh and dried mesocarp extract. The antimicrobial extract was tested in vitro by using the agar well diffusion method against four bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and one fungus, Candida albicans with concentration of the extract were 10 mg/mL and 100 mg/mL. The dried and fresh mesocarp extract was resistant to P. aeruginosa and E. coli, while the dried mesocarp extract showed potential antibacterial activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus with the diameter zone of inhibition on concentration 10 mg/ml were 12 ± 0.1 mm and 10± 0.1 mm, respectively. Antifungal activity only exhibited by the dried mesocarp extract with diameter zone of inhibition on concentration 100 mg/mL was 9 ± 0.1 mm. The dried mesocarp extract was more potent than fresh mesocarp extract as antimicrobial.