SCREENING OF SELECTED MALAYSIAN HERBS AS THE POTENTIAL BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT AGAINST BACTERIAL DISEASES OF FISH

SYAHIDAH  AHMAD; HASSAN  MOHD DAUD; YAYA  RUKAYADI; YASSER MOHAMED  ABDELHADI; NOR ASMA HUSNA  YUSOFF; MOHD SALLEH  KAMARUDIN

doi:10.55230/mabjournal.v50i1.1504

Authors

SYAHIDAH AHMAD Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Aquatic Animal Health Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
HASSAN MOHD DAUD
hassanmd@upm.edu.my
Aquatic Animal Health Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
YAYA RUKAYADI Laboratory of Natural Products, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
YASSER MOHAMED ABDELHADI Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research, Abassa, Abu-Hammad, Sharkia, 44662, Egypt 5
NOR ASMA HUSNA YUSOFF Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
MOHD SALLEH KAMARUDIN Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords:

Antibacterial activity, fish pathogens, Malaysian herbs, methanolic extracts

Abstract

The control of fish disease is mostly based on synthetic antimicrobial agents. Indiscriminate usage of antimicrobial agents has resulted in antibiotics resistance. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the potential antimicrobial properties of herbal plants as an alternative antimicrobial agent. The susceptibility of fish pathogens namely Bacillus sp., Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio alginolyticus towards aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cosmos caudatus, Curcuma mangga, Justicia gendarussa, Piper betle and Zingiber zerumbet were assessed using the agar well diffusion, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. The methanolic extracts were found active against all tested bacteria, compared to aqueous extracts. The best antibacterial activity was demonstrated by methanolic extract of P. betle, followed by Z. zerumbet, C. caudatus, C. mangga and J. gendarussa, with the lowest MIC and MBC values of 0.39 and 1.56 mg/mL, respectively. The methanolic extracts of P. betle and Z. zerumbet also had greater inhibitory effects than some of the commercial antibiotics, particularly tetracycline and erythromycin. Overall findings suggested that the methanolic extracts of P. betle and Z. zerumbet are potential to be developed as new antimicrobial agents to prevent fish bacterial diseases.