Potential Antibacterial Flavonoid from Buah Merah (Pandanus conodieus Lam.) Against Pathogenic Oral Bacteria of Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212

Dental caries is an oral disease generated by pathogenic bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis, which is most frequently found in teeth with pulp necrosis. On the other hand, the use of the medicinal plant to treat pathogenic disease, including caries is an alternative option, which consumes synthetic drug having a side effect.

The purpose of this study is to isolate antibacterial agents from Buah Merah (Pandanus conoideus Lam) and to test the antibacterial activity of those compounds against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212.

Isolation of the antibacterial constituents from Buah Merah used a combinational column chromatography technique which include a normal and reversed-phase. The chosen fraction of each separation is based on the most active fraction. The compounds at various concentrations, 1000 - 20000 μg/mL, were assessed against E. faecalis ATCC 29212 by agar disc diffusion method, and chlorhexidine 2000 μg/mL was used as a positive control.

Four compounds isolated from Buah Merah were determined as flavonoid 1, diterpenoid 2, and two fatty acid derivatives 3 and 4. The compounds were then tested against E. faecalis cultured to find inhibition zones, and the study found that only compound 1 identified as Quercetin-3-O-glucose showed an inhibited zone 88 mm at 20000 ppm.

This study demonstrated that ethyl acetate fraction of Buah Merah contains an antibacterial flavonoid active against E. faecalis. This research gives information for the use of this plant in herbal medicine and contributes to the necessity of a new antibacterial agent for oral infectious disease. Moreover, this data can be based on information to find the substituted antiseptic applied in the dentistry field.