Antimicrobial Activity of Momordica cochinchinensis Seeds and Seeds Aril Extract

In attempt to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis) seeds’ aril, seed extract, and crude seed aril oil against some gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria using microdilution assay, seed arils were extracted using ethanolethylacetate (6:4), aqueous extraction of the seeds and crude seed aril oil were used. This study shows that the extract of seed arils exhibited the best antimicrobial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the ethanolethylacetate ranges between 0.391 and 3.125mg/ml. The extract showed significant inhibition against all bacteria Bacillus subtilis; Staphylococcus aureus; Micrococcus luteus; Klebsiella pneumonia, and Enterobacter aerogenes. The maximum antibacterial activities were observed against S. aureus by the seed aril extract (0.391 mg/ml), while the crude oil showed no antimicrobial activity in this study. The seed aqueous extract showed inhibition against S. aureus only with the concentration of (12.5 mg/ml). Therefore, the results of this study show that the antibacterial activity of the Gac fruit seed aril extracts can be beneficial for the development of alternative antibacterial sources.