Antimicrobial activity of bay leaf (Syzygium polyanthum (wight) walp) extracted using various solvent

Compounds derived from natural sources have the potential use for food safety because of the antimicrobial properties. Today, consumer awareness on the potential negative effects of synthetic preservatives on health has sparked interest for researchers in the development and use of natural products in food. Antimicrobial testing was conducted on three gram negative bacteria, four gram positive bacteria and three fungi by micro dilution of ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate and n-hexane extracts of bay leaf. The test results showed that all extracts did not have antimicrobial activity against gram negative bacteria. While, for gram-positive bacteria there are some extracts that have activity against certain bacteria, namely ethyl acetate extract and n-hexane against gram-positive MS = Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC 70084 and methanol extract against gram-positive bacteria ML = Micrococcus luteus DSM 1790). All extracts have anti fungal activity against MH = Mucor hialisalis DSM 2656. It can be concluded that bay leaf extract using a variety of organic solvents shows selective antimicrobial activity against certain gram positive bacteria and fungi however no activity against gram negative bacteria.