Antibacterial Effect of Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) on Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the antibacterial effect and the best concentration of the Braken Fern extracts and the control on the bacteria staphylococcus aureus and the best concentration of Braken Fern. This study used the experimental research method. The extraction was done by ethanol extraction for the first procedure and decoction for the second procedure. The agar diffusion test or disk diffusion method was used in the experiment. This study was conducted at the Cordillera Regional Science High School, Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet on October 7- 13 2012 for the first procedure and at the college of Veterinary Medicine for the second procedure on February 4 to 9 2013 for the second procedure. Findings showed that all the selected parts and concentration of the Braken fern extracts used do not inhibit the growth of the Staphylococcus aureus including the antibacterial medicine, penicillin. The three different parts of the bracken ferns (leaves, stem and rhizome) extracts and the different concentrations of the leaves extracts are not effective in inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus including antibacterial medicine, penicillin. Based on the conclusion, the researchers recommended the following: the future studies should be conducted using different extraction method such as the combination of ethanol extraction and fractionation, the use of different organic solvents such as hexane, petroleum ether and chloroform, use other parts of the braken fern such as fiddleheads and utilize different location and period of the year and future studies on the effect of Braken fern to other microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and Streptococcus aureus.