Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Endemic Jeffreycia zeylanica Plant Found in Sri Lanka

Aims: Determination of antibacterial efficacy of aqueous, methanol, dichloromethane, and hexane extracts from Jeffreycia zeylanica leaves against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Methodology: Completely ballooned leaves of J. zeylanica were gathered, air-dried, and milled into fine powder. Then macerated in all four selected solvents for about 1-2 weeks, the extracts were obtained by vacuum evaporation under reduced pressure. Antibacterial activity was performed against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) using the agar well diffusion method and disc diffusion method. The positive control utilized was Gentamicin. The inhibitory zone's diameter (in mm) was measured and noted. The entire experiment was done in triplicates.

Results: Findings from the study indicated that methanolic leaves extract (EC50 39.03mg/mL) had the highest effectiveness and potency against S. aureus using agar well diffusion method and, methanolic leaves extract (EC50 2.301mg/mL) had the highest effectiveness and potency against S. aureus using agar disc diffusion method.

Conclusion: This study designates that, leaves of J. zeylanica have potential antibacterial activity using aqueous, methanol, Dichloromethane(DCM), and hexane extracts. Among them methanolic extract showed the highest activity indicating the highest inhibition zones and the most susceptible organism is S. aureus. Additional study is required to understand the mechanism and active ingredients behind the antibacterial activity of further plant sections.