Fatty acids composition and antimicrobial activities of Litsea garciae pulp and seed extracts Ling Zinyin, Gabriele Ruth Anisah Fromming, Zunika Amit* Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia *Corresponding author e-mail: zunika@unimas.my
Online published on 20 June, 2022. Abstract Litsea garciae is a native plant to Borneo Island. The current study aimed to identify and compare the fatty acids composition and antimicrobial activities of the pulp and seed extracts of L. garciae. The total lipids of L. garciae pulp and seed were extracted with petroleum ether (PE) and Bligh-Dyer (BD) methods and the fatty acids were analysed using gas chromatography. The fatty acids of seed extracts consisted of more than 80% saturated fatty acids whereas the pulp extracts contained a similar percentage of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (approximately 50%). The predominant saturated fatty acids were palmitic acid followed by stearic acid for both PE and BD lipid pulp extracts. In contrast, the PE and BD lipid seed extracts had a high content of lauric acid followed by palmitic acid. The predominant monounsaturated fatty acid was oleic acid while polyunsaturated fatty acid was linoleic acid for all extracts. As for the antimicrobial activities, PE lipid pulp extract had higher antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and S. epidermidis than other extracts in both antimicrobial assays. This study showed that the PE and BD lipid pulp and seed extracts had similar major components of fatty acids but with different proportions. In addition, the components of fatty acids might contribute to the antibacterial activities of L. garciae. Top Keywords Litsea, Lipids, GC-MS, Petroleum ether, Bligh and Dyer, Disk diffusion assay, Broth microdilution assay. Top |