International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2015 1 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org Phytochemical and Antibacterial Studies of Lantana camara L. Leaf Fraction and Essential Oil Jo-Ann T. Salada*, Lotis M. Balala*, Erlinda A. Vasquez** * College of Veterinary Medicine, Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines, 6521 ** Philippine Rootcrops Center, Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines, 6521 Abstract- The study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial activity of varying concentrations of Lantana camara Linn. leaf extracts against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Salmonella gallinarum. Broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was evaluated through streaking of bacterial suspension onto Mueller-Hinton agar. Phytochemical tests were done to identify bioactive compounds present in the extracts. Results showed that among extracts used, L. camara leaf ethanolic fraction (EF) and essential oil (EO) demonstrate antibacterial activity. The MIC of essential oil ranges from 312.5μg/mL - 10,000μg/mL better than ethanolic fraction at 1,250μg/mL – 5,000μg/mL. Bacillus subtilis is the most sensitive organism inhibited at 312.5 μg/mL while Salmonella gallinarum showed less sensitivity with MIC starting at 5000 μg/mL. The MIC-MBC ratio revealed that the extracts possess bactericidal activity against test bacteria. Phytochemical evaluation indicates the presence of saponins, tannins and terpenoids in EF and terpenoids in EO. These compounds are believed to be responsible for the broad spectrum activity of the plant extracts. . Index Terms- L. camara, leaf ethanolic fraction, essential oil, phytochemical screening, MIC-MBC I. INTRODUCTION he number of emerging multi-drug resistant microbial strains is continuously increasing and has become one of the most serious threats to successful treatment of infectious diseases 8 . This increase is mainly attributed to indiscriminate use of broad- spectrum antibiotics 24 . The use of synthetic drugs is not only expensive but often found with adulterations and side effects. New formulations of antimicrobial agents derived from natural plant products is therefore necessitated to address this issue 5,11 . The World Health Organization underscores the importance of herbal plants as best source of a variety of drugs and promotes further scientific investigations unto determination of properties, safety and efficacy of plant drugs 12 . Lantana camara (Verbenaceae) is one of the well-known medicinal plants in traditional medicine 6 . Its resilient nature makes the plant invasive and widely distributed in the pantropic. However, this characteristic turns the plant a problem weed because it dominates native species and disrupts biodiversity 18 . New strategies should be developed to optimize the usefulness of this plant such as exploring its pharmacologic potential. L. camara besides being inexpensive possesses non-phytotoxic compounds that are found to exhibit inhibitory effect on pathogens 26 . In the Philippines, not only L. camara is known as an ornamental weed but is also popular in folkloric treatment as cure to various ailments including rheumatism, wound, fever, and asthma 17 . Other studies reported its antitumor, analgesic, antifungal, and hepatotoxic activities 14 . Our study investigated the antibacterial activity of varying concentrations of L. camara leaf extracts against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella gallinarum. Preliminary antibacterial screening of the plant has been done by other researchers through disc diffusion method but our work demonstrates the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration to partially establish the mode of action of the plant drug. It significantly reports L. camara leaf ethanolic fraction as potential antibiotic. Moreover, we subjected the extract in a series of qualitative phytochemical tests to determine groups of bioactive compounds present in the plant. II. METHODS Plant Collection Fresh leaves of L. camara were collected at the vicinity of Barangay Pangasugan, Baybay City, Leyte. The leaves were chopped, weighed and air-dried until 20% of moisture content is left. Preparation of Extract and Essential Oil L. camara leaves were sequentially extracted using hexane, ethanol and water. Leaves were first infused in hexane (1:7 w/v) for 24 hours and filtered in Buchner funnel and Whatman filter paper (No. 54). Leaf residues from previous extraction were infused in ethanol (ethanolic fraction) and water (aqueous fraction). The extracts were filtered and concentrated in rotary evaporator at 40 o C until volume reached 10mL. The extracts were placed in clean amber bottle and evaporated to dryness. Essential oil was extracted using modified steam distillation technique. Collected oil was transferred to sterile bottle until analyzed. Test Bacteria T