Efficacy of Merremia mammosa Hall Terpenoid Fraction againts Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is still a pandemic disease in Indonesia. People in Madura Island, Indonesia, usually use the rhizome of Merremia mammosa Hall as anti-tuberculosis. In this study, the antibacterial activity of terpenoid fractions of Merremia mammosa rhizome against Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been studied using agar dilution method at a concentration of 200-25 µg/mL, incubated for 21 days in 7H10 Midlebrook medium. N-hexane extract of Merremia mammosa has been fractionated using ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate fraction was subjected to vacuum column chromatography using gradient concentration of ethyl acetate-n hexane, and obtained 11 subfractions. There were two subfractions indicated the presence of terpenoid compounds. These subfractions were grouped and subjected to antimicrobial assay. Result showed that the terpenoid compounds have antituberculosis property with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) value of 100µg/mL. The result was supported by acid-fast Zielh-neelsen stain, which indicated that at a concentration of 100 and 200 µg/ml of the subfractions, there were no growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis visually detected. In conclusion, Merremia mammosa is potential to be developed as antituberculosis agent. The chemical compounds responsible for this activity are currently under investigation for further study.