ISOLATION OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI FROM THE COASTAL PLANT TERONG PUNGO (Solanum sp.) AND ITS ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST ORAL PATHOGENIC BACTERIA

Abstrak

Coastal plant locally known as terong pungo (Solanum sp.) was used by Aceh community as traditional medicine for toothache. The objectives of this study were to isolate endophytic fungi from the leaves of terong pungo and determine the antibacterial activity of the fungi against bacteria causing dental caries and infection. Eight endophytic fungi were isolated. Antagonism test among the isolates was performed to select the most dominant fungus. TP6 was the selected fungus based on the antagonism assay. Crude extracts of the fungus were macerated from the culture broth using ethyl acetate. The strongest antibacterial activity of the extracts was obtained when the fungus was at 12 days of cultivation. The fungal crude extract was strongly active against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with inhibition zone diameter of 20, 21 and 23 mm, respectively.