The activity of CENTELLA ASIATICA extract against STAPHYLOCOCCUS Epidermidis.

Abstract

Staphylococcus epidermidis with the highest percentage has the prominent role among coagulase-negative Staphylococci that is the most important reason of clinical infections and this is due to various virulence factors and unique features. Centella asiatica is a clonal herbaceous creeper belonging to the family Umbellifere (Apiceae) and is found mostly in moist places of tropical and subtropical countries where it is used as a traditional medicine, it contains active components such as; alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and triterpenoids that give it it’s medicinal properties. Many studies have shown that the plant has several biological and pharmacological activities but there is no documentation of the result of the study of the activity of Centella asiatica extract against Staphylococcus epidermidis. The general objective of this study was to determine the activity of Centella asiatica ethanolic extract against Staphylococcus epidermidis. The activity of the ethanolic extract of Centella asiatica against Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 1228 was determined using the Agar well diffusion method and the experiment was done in triplicates using Vancomycin as the positive control and 4% DMSO as the negative control. The highest concentration of the ethanolic extract of Centella asiatica did not show any activity towards the Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 1228 and so did the negative control (4% DMSO), while the positive control (Vancomycin) showed a greater antibacterial activity against the test strain with a mean zone of inhibition of 27mm. A number of factors could have affected the activity of the ethanolic extract of Centella asiatica against Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC1228 in this study. This study could be the beginning of further research on the activity of Centella asiatica extracts against Staphylococcus epidermidis by taking into consideration the extraction preparation, mechanism of action, antimicrobial assay and the other different parameters that could have affected this study.