Abstract:

The objectives of the study are to identify and compare the antibacterial activities of the methanolic extracts of pulp and peel of Musa acuminata from Soxhlet and maceration technique. This study compares the percentage yield, phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activities between the pulp and peel of Musa acuminata extracted at different conditions against three types of bacteria;Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli. Four concentrations (25% w/v, 50% w/v, 75% w/v, 100% w/v) were used in the evaluation of antibacterial activity. The percentage yield of both methanolic pulp and peel extracts were found to be greater in Soxhlet extraction (EM01 & EM02) than the maceration method (EM03 & EM04). The phytochemical constituents found in Musa acuminata peel were terpenoids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, alkaloids, and coumarins while only terpenoids, phenols, tannins and alkaloids were found in Musa acuminata pulp. Reducing sugar was found in both pulp and peel extracts. The results showed significant difference (p<0.05) between the effect of each concentrations towards the inhibition of gram-positive bacteria; S. aureus and S. pyogenes while no significant effect was found against gram-negative bacteria, E. coli. The pulp extract from EM01 showed the best antibacterial activities against gram-positive bacteria strains as compared to EM03. In conclusion, the pulp and peel extracts of Musa acuminata Colla (AA group) cv. Pisang Berangan showed antibacterial activities against gram-positive bacteria but not against gram-negative bacteria.

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