Phytochemical Analysis of Clitoria ternatea Leaves and Its Potential Antibacterial Activity against Escherichia Coli

Clitoria ternatea is traditionally used as medicine in Ayurveda and had been found to exhibit antibacterial activities due to its rich phytochemical contents. Due to the issue of resistant bacteria emergence and side effects of synthetic antibacterial agents, investigation of plant’s antibacterial potential is important. In this study, the methanolic C. ternatea leaves extracts were investigated for phytochemical content and antibacterial activity. Phytochemical content was investigated quantitatively focusing on the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), determined by Folin-Ciocalteau method and Aluminum-chloride method, respectively. The antibacterial potential of the plant’s extract was analyzed by disk-diffusion method of concentrations (12.5, 25, 50, 100 mg/mL), ampicillin and methanol act as positive control and negative control, respectively. The extraction yield of methanolic C. ternatea leaves extracts obtained by maceration method is 8.16%. The TPC and TFC of C. ternatea leaves extract are 0.66116 ± 0.43455 mg GAE /g and 0.31333 ± 0.057735 mg QE /g respectively. The disk-diffusion antibacterial assay showed no inhibitory activity of C. ternatea extracts against Escherichia coli. This might be attributed to the lack of potency of C. ternatea extracts at their current concentration, and the low content of TPC and TFC in the extracts. This had partially proved that concentration of the extracts used is crucial in antibacterial activities. Discrepancy of antibacterial results in C. ternatea observed between different studies might be attributed to the different methodologies. In conclusion, C. ternatea has been seen as a high potential plant in terms of antibacterial activity, but conditions during experiment poses high impact on the result of antibacterial assay. The findings from this study had provided valuable information to the field of phytochemistry and attempted to broaden the uses of medicinal plants, in which this can indirectly contribute to preservation of traditional knowledge and conservation of biodiversity.