Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

To assess the antimicrobial activity of Alpinia officinale extract against S. mutans, lactobacillus, and C. albicans.

The rhizome of Alpinia officinale were identified, collected, washed, shade dried, and then ground to prepare a fine powder. 50gm of the prepared powder was dissolved in 250ml of the following solvents ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanol at 40-50°C for 6h. The bacterial and fungal isolates of S. mutans, Lactobacillus and C. albicans were collected and prepared. Antimicrobial and antifungal activity of extracts against S. mutans, lactobacillus and C. albicans were determined by the Disc diffusion method. Microdilution of extracts were prepared with 2X stock concentration to obtain 100 to 1.5 microgram per ml of nutrient broth to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration.

The most effective extract was ethanol extract followed by ethyl acetate and methanol extracts. There was substantial activity by methanol and ethyl acetate extracts. The MICs of different concentrations of ethanol extracts were found to be 1.5,3.1 and 12.5 μg/mL for S. mutans, L. acidophilus, and C. albicans respectively.

The present study concluded that A. officinale has potential antimicrobial activities for cariogenic microorganisms.