The Antimicrobial Activity Of Sapindus mukorossi

The emergence of bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics makes the need for new antibiotics essential. After years of extensive research on soil microorganism, we need to look for new sources of antimicrobics.  There are limited reports of antimicrobics from plants. Soapnut, Sapindus mukorossi, has been used in traditional South Asian culture as a skin cleanser and a laundry detergent. Therefore, we hypothesize that the soapnut seed has antibacterial activity. Soapnut seeds were ground in 95% ethanol or acetone to a final concentration of 430 mg/mL. The extracts were tested against the gram-negative bacteria Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in a disk-diffusion test. The ethanolic extract inhibits Salmonella. The minimum bacteriostatic concentration against Salmonella is 500 mg/mL; no lethal concentration was found. Bacteriostatic compounds will be isolated by paper chromatography. The method of action will be reported.