The fundamental study of antimicrobial activity of piper betle extract in commercial toothpastes

In this study, the effects of different solvents (ethanol and water) on the extraction of the bioactive compounds were investigated. 95% ethanol was found to recover the highest phenolic content of 840 mg GAE/g, followed by 50% ethanol with 460 mg GAE/g and water with the lowest at 200 mg GAE/g. With its high phenolic content, the 95% ethanol extract was blended into 3 existing, commercially available, toothpastes to evaluate its antimicrobial activity. The extract combined with conventional toothpastes, each with different active ingredients, were subjected to four oral bacterial pathogens, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus salivarius, as well as the oral fungal pathogen Candida albicans, via agar well diffusion assay. A statistically significant increase in the zone of inhibition after the addition of the P.betle extract was observed with all 3 toothpastes in all bacterial and fungal pathogens tested. The greatest increase in ZOI was 24.6% for the bacterial pathogens and 20.3% for the fungal pathogen, showcasing the potential use of Piper Betle extract as an effective antimicrobial agent for use in oral products.
Source: Journal of Herbal Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Source Type: research