Antimicrobial Effects of Peperomia Pellucida (Ketumpang Air) Against Multidrug Resistant and Foodborne Organisms Including Toxicity Study in Sprague Dawley Rats

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activities of methanol and aqueous extracts of P. pellucida aerial part (PPAP) against four multi-drug resistant organisms; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and four foodborne pathogens; Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. The antibacterial potentialities of the plant extracts were evaluated at 250 mg/ml and 500 mg/ml. Only susceptible bacteria were further determined for minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (MBC) concentrations. The best extract of a single dose of 5000 mg/kg PPAP methanol extract was acutely tested on female rats by adapting the OECD guidelines No 425. Findings obtained indicated that only PPAP methanol extract was found to be a potent inhibitor towards Bacillus cereus with the MIC and MBC values at 3.91 mg/ml and 7.81 mg/ml respectively. Toxicity study revealed that there was neither mortality nor morbidity and absent of abnormalities on all rats examined.     Keywords: Peperomia pellucida, antibacterial, multi-drug resistant, foodborne pathogens, acute toxicity