Aims:The emergence of many resistant bacterial strains towards conventional antibiotics has shifted the focus of numerous research studies in finding antibacterials from alternative sources.Herbal plants have been used since ancient times in treating many illnesses, including infections.Among the herbs, Piper species from the Piperaceae family, which is also known as Pepper, was widely used for medicinal purposes, preservatives as well as spices because of its flavour, odour, and antibacterial property.This research aims to study the antibacterial activity of four Piper species, namely P. betle, P. sarmentosum, P. nigrum and P. aduncum towards ten pathogenic bacteria and their synergistic effect when combined with standard antibiotics. Methodology and results:The plant sample was extracted using pure ethanol by maceration and concentrated using a rotary evaporator.The antibacterial susceptibility test was done using the agar disc diffusion method.The extracts were then combined with antibiotic penicillin, erythromycin and gentamycin to assess its synergistic effects using the agar disc diffusion method.Piper betle was revealed to be the most potent plant with significant antibacterial activity towards all ten pathogens tested and 78% of the extracts showed synergism when combined with antibiotics.The ethanolic leaf extracts of all Piper species tested were found to be more effective against Gram-positive than Gram-negative bacteria.Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Piper species possessed antibacterial activity, especially P. betle, which can be used to develop new antibacterial agents as well as optimizing existing standard antibiotics.
Badhrulhisham et al. (Sun,) studied this question.