Phytochemical Analysis and Potential Inhibitory Property of Tubli (Derris elliptica Benth) Root Extract on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Medicinal plants contain bioactive compounds which are used for the treatment of various human diseases. One of these plants is the Tubli (Derris elliptica Benth) which comes from the genus of the family Papilionaceae locally known in Southeast Asian Countries as "Derris" or Tuba" and "Tubli" or "Tugling-pula" in Philippines. In this paper, is reported inhibitory property of this plant which had been studied against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to find new substances with antimicrobial properties. The main purpose of the study was to identify the biochemical compounds of Tubli (Derris elliptica Benth) that inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus; to determine the result of the mean average of zone inhibition between Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and to differentiate the mean average of zone of inhibition between Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The experiments conducted used the Completely Randomized Designed (CRD). The data were analyzed using T-Test. Phytochemical analysis of Tubli (D. elliptica Benth) revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, and steroids which contributed to the antimicrobial ability of the root extract. It was found out that Tubli (D. elliptica Benth) was more active against the S. aureus having the total average zone of inhibition of 24.66 mm than the E. coli having the total average zone of inhibition of 20 mm. T-Test revealed that there is a significant difference on zone of inhibitions of the S. aureus and E. coli tested under Tubli (D. elliptica Benth) ethanolic root extract. The presence of phytochemicals suggests that D. elliptica has a potential antimicrobial property that could serve as a natural source of traditional medicine for treatment of various diseases.