Phytochemical properties of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of cananga odorata flowers and their pharmacological activities

Abstract

This work aimed to investigate the phytochemical contents of methanol as well as ethyl acetate extracts from Cananga odorata flower and their activities against a skin acne bacterium - Propionibacterium acnes. Herein, methanol extract of C. odorata was sequentially partitioned using n-hexane and ethyl acetate as solvents. Each extract was studied for its antibacterial activity against P. acnes bacteria. Antibacterial testing was conducted based on disc diffusion assay technique, where the discs were dripped with several variants of concentrations of C. odorata flower extract ranging from 0.5, 2, 4, 6, and 8%. The results showed that the ethyl acetate extract had a higher inhibition zone than the methanol extract. At a concentration of 0.5% ethyl acetate extract the diameter of the inhibition zone formed was 7.3 mm and at a concentration of 8% it was 14 mm. While the methanol extract at a concentration of 0.5% did not show antibacterial effect, but was active at a concentration of 8% with the inhibition diameter reaching 8.3 mm. The effect of extract concentration on the diameter of the inhibition zone is concentration-dependent. In conclusion, the methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of C. odorata flowers had weak inhibitory activities against P. acnes.