COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT EXTRACTION METHODS TO STUDY THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CENTELLA ASIATICA LEAF EXTRACTS.

There are enormous bioactive compounds found in plants which serves as a major contribution in medicinal applications especially in treating diseases. Centella asiatica is one of the herbs that getting a great deal of consideration for its restorative purposes. This study was carried out to determine the different phytochemicals present in Centella asiatica leaf as well as its antimicrobial properties. The leaves were extracted with three different extraction methods; sonication, soxhlet, and maceration with ethyl acetate as a solvent. Sonication extraction gave the highest yield. Major groups of phytochemicals such as terpenoids, saponins, alkaloids and flavonoids were detected through qualitative and quantitative analysis. Antimicrobial analysis was done against two Gram- positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and two Gram- negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli). There has been an increasing effect on microbial growth inhibition with increasing concentration of the extracts. Extracts from sonication had the highest inhibition rate for Gram-negative bacteria whereas maceration extracts had the highest inhibition rate for Gram-positive bacteria.