Antimicrobial, Total Phenolic Content and Free Radical Scavenging Activity Determination of the Centella asiatica extract

Abstract

Centella asiatica is a popular medicinal plant that has a long history of usage as a traditional medicine that is used for neurological disease, skin disease, immune disease, and others. Nowadays, there is a wide array of Centella asiatica -based products. Although Centella asiatica was claimed to be having an established profile on the free radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content and antimicrobial activity of Centella asiatica but there is still a lack of detailed study that focuses on those properties. This study aims to fill the gap in the previous research, especially on the antimicrobial activity of C. asiatica. This study is worth examining because it helps to assure the effectiveness of C. asiatica medicinal products on the market. The antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the plant extract were examined by using DPPH assay and Folin-Ciocalteu method respectively. Based on the findings, C. asiatica was found to be having concentration-dependent antioxidant activity with the highest radical scavenging activity recorded at 52.7% at 100 μg/mL. For total phenolic concentration wise, 1mg/ml maceration and soxhlet extract of C. asiatica were found to be having 20.74 and 27.48 μg/mL Gallic acid equivalent (GAE) respectively. The antimicrobial activity was determined by using the modified broth dilution method. Based on the findings, C. asiatica was found to be effective against E. coli, K. pneumonia, and S. epidermidis with the MIC recorded at 4mg/ml. On the other hand, B.pumilus did not portray sensitivity against C. asiatica at the tested concentration. This study is significant as it verifies the antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and antimicrobial activity of the plant extract successfully.