"Antimicrobial activity of Saga (Abrus precatorius) leaves extracts grown in various cultivation methods"

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry relied on penicillin and its derivatives, which were the most commonly used antimicrobial substances in medicine. Penicillin had been the first antibiotic discovered and continued to be widely used due to its high effectiveness against a wide range of bacterial infections. One of the downsides to this reliance was the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria due to repeated exposure. For instance, bacteria such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) had evolved mechanisms to resist the effects of penicillin and related antibiotics, making infections more challenging to treat. Abrus precatorius was a plant that had traditionally been used as medicine for cough, herbal remedies, and alternative sweeteners due to the plant containing triterpenoid saponins, an antimicrobial compound. To address this problem, the project aimed to explore the antimicrobial properties of Saga (Abrus precatorius) extracted from the plant's leaves grown in different cultivation methods. The research measured saponin quantity from the crude samples using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer with quillaja as a standard and utilized the Kirby-Bauer disk susceptibility test to assess the antimicrobial activity of saga in the form of crude extract. The susceptibility test resulted in antimicrobial activity at the average size of 1.75 cm at 5 mg of saponin, while showing little inhibition at 1 mg of saponin. These results demonstrate that crude extract's ability to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus.