The emergence of multi-resistant strains of bacteria reinforces the need to discover new antibacterial agents that are able to combat resistant microorganisms. Medicinal plants are a valuable natural source of bioactive substances against various infectious diseases. Melastoma malabathricum L. is an important herb that is traditionally used to treat several ailments associated with microbial infection diseases such as wounds, diarrhea, dysentery, and toothache. This study investigated extracts of M. malabathricum L. for antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Disc diffusion and TLC-contact bioautography techniques were employed to examine antibacterial properties of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol extracts with observations of diameter inhibition zones and Rf values. Investigation of active compounds in TLC-bioautography used several reagents including citroboric, cerium (IV) sulfate and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), continued by identification of chromatogram profiles through densitometry analysis. The three extracts showed good inhibition against bacterial strains with diameter inhibition zones in the range of 8.0 – 14.0 mm with a number of active spots on TLC-contact bioautography for each extract. This plant may serve as useful source of antibacterial agents for resistant microorganisms and further investigation is needed of its bioactive pure compounds as well as their particular therapeutic potentials and applications.

The increasing therapy problem including multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) has made it important to discover a new anti-TB drug candidate. The aim of this study was to acknowledge the activity of ethyl acetate extracts of kenikir (Cosmos caudatus H.B.K) and sendok (Plantago major L.) leaves against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) H37Rv. This research used Middlebrook (MB) 7H9 media and observed the growth of M. tuberculosis using Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media. The concentration of extracts were 0.25 mg/ml, 0.50 mg/ml, and 1.00 mg/ml. The result of this study showed that ethyl acetate extracts exhibited anti-TB activity in 1000 µg/ml of both extracts. The active compound group was detected by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and the separation of compounds was shown by retardation factor (Rf) and the color of the spots. Based on TLC chromatograms, it is known that there are types of compounds, such as ortho-dihydroxy compounds, phenolic compounds, and compound leads to terpenoids for both extracts.

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria are a concern in the world of health. The microbe Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes tuberculosis (TB) is one of the main disease problems in the world, as evidenced by the existence of 10.4 million sufferers and 1.8 million deaths in the world in 2015. During 5 years (2015 to 2020), the World Health Organization was done some comprehensive programs it can reduce mortality up to 13%. However, since early 2020 were increased the mortality rate again as in 2015. In addition, the increasing incidence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics has triggered various studies to find alternative antibacterial agents. This study is related to the anti-tuberculosis activity (against M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv with the liquid dilution method with Middlebrook 7H9 (MB 7H9) and solid dilution with Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ)) in ethyl acetate patikan kebo (Euphorbia hirta L.) extract. The investigation of antimycobacterial tuberculosis, it was found that a concentration of 800 µg/mL had anti-tuberculosis activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The active compound as a result of isolation is the triterpenoid (taraxasterol) group.