Antibacterial Activity of Saponin Extracted from Phyllanthus niruri on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity of saponin extracted from Phyllanthus niruri was investigated on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to determine the structure spectra of the extracted purified saponin. The 13carbon NMR predicted on the basis of chemical shift that appeared in the resonances of 20 – 60 ppm gave a structure named Phylagenin-13-O-α-D-glucopyranoside and Phylagenin-25-O-β-D-glucopyra-noside. The susceptibility profile of MRSA determined by the agar-diffusion method showed that 97.0% and 90.0% of the test bacterium were resistant to Tetracycline and Cotrimoxazole respectively and 60% of the bacterium was susceptible to saponin extract. The ability of saponin extracted from P. niruri to treat clinical manifestation like chest congestion and skin desquamation from which S. aureus resistant to conventional antibiotics have been isolated has been confirmed in this study. The fact that this extract exerted an inhibitory effect on MRSA indicates that they can potentially be further developed into antimicrobial clinically used agents.