Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
Sweating after a workout or playing sports is an acceptable form of promoting well-being. However, excessive sweating in normal life activities, especially when associated with a foul odor, reflects poor hygiene, leading to embarrassment and social barriers. Individuals suffering from these problems require continuous maintenance using deodorants and antiperspirants as the most common treatments for body odor. However, the association of these products with side effects increases the need to search for antiperspirant and deodorant from natural resources. Ten medicinal plant extracts traditionally used to mask body odor were screened against skin microbiota for antibacterial activity. Agar well diffusion and microbroth dilution method were utilized to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the ethanol extract of the plants against bacteria strains commonly found on the axillary region; S. epidermidis, C. tuberculostearicum, and C. jeikeium. The plant extracts have shown varying antibacterial activity, with the zone of inhibition for susceptibility tests ranging from 0.0 ± 0.0 to 16.33 ± 0.57 mm. The MBC and MIC of the plants against the investigated bacterial strains were 1.563 to 0.098 mg/mL. Ethanol extracts of Piper betle, Syzygium aromaticum, and Curcuma xanthorrhiza inhibited the growth of three strains of skin microbiota that causing body odor and thus, indicated as a promising medicinal plant in the development of natural deodorants and antiperspirant.
