Determination of the rate of kill, mode of action, and the bioactive components from the ethyl acetate sub-fraction of methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus.

The time-kill rate of methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus was determined in this study which showed that the extract caused a reduction of the viable cells of all the test bacteria after a contact time of 30 mins and there were virtually no surviving cells of all the test bacteria after a contact time of 180 mins. The extract was also found to cause leakages of cellular materials such as potassium ions, sodium ions, protein and nucleic acids from the test bacteria which led to the loss of cell viability. The ethyl acetate sub-fraction of the extract was analyzed by GC-MS and FTIR analysis and the result revealed the presence of Phytochemicals such as 1, 2-Benzenedicarboxilic acid mono (2-Ethylhexyl) ester, Columbin, 2-(6-Methylpyridin-2-ylmethyl) cyclohexane, 2(1H) Naphthalenone,3,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-4,8a-dimethyl-6-(1-methylethenyl) which have all been reported to possess antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The result of this study will contribute to the baseline data on the pharmacodynamics of the extract if applied as herbal medicine for human treatment thereby reducing the dosage and period of treatment. The finding also revealed that the ethyl acetate sub-fraction of methanol extract of P. amarus contains antibacterial phytochemicals that may be used to develop more potent, safe and cheap antimicrobial agents using nanotechnology.