Idris F., Nadzir M., 2017, Antimicrobial Activity of Centella Asiatica on Aspergillus Niger and Bacillus Subtilis, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 56, 1381-1386.
Centella asiatica (C. asiatica) or known as pegaga in Malaysia is commonly eaten raw by local as it is claimed to have medicinal purposes such as for healing of wound, and kidney diseases. Furthermore, this plant is said to have antimicrobial properties. Since extraction is an important step for separation of bioactive compounds from the plant material, this study was conducted to optimise the soxhlet extraction recovery of extracts fromasiatica and to investigate the potential of the extracts for clinical applications. C. asiatica was extracted with methanol, ethanol and water. The extracts were then tested for efficacy against Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) by disc diffusion method. Extraction of C. asiatica using ethanol as solvent had greater yield which was 7.3 % compared to methanol (5.0 %) and water (3.3 %). The study showed that ethanol extract of C. asiatica had higher antimicrobial followed by methanol and water. In this study, C. asiatica extracts was able to inhibit the growth of B. subtilis and A. niger significantly which further can be developed into an alternative to synthetic antimicrobials.
