Inhibitory activity of lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 fermented milk combined with aqueous extract of moringa oleifera leaves against streptococcus mutans

The growth inhibitory activity of Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 (Lp) fermented milk combined with aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera leaves against Streptococcus mutants has been studied. The preparation is potential developed as healthy food due to its nutritional value as well as its beneficial activities. The well agar diffusion method was applied for the antibacterial assay on nutrient agar media and local strain of Streptococcus mutants was used as a bacterial test. This species often causes infectious in the teeth. Effectiveness of the fermented milk and its combination with aqueous extract preparations against the bacterial test were assessed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the potency indication. The aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera leaves was prepared as infuse like according to community daily consumption. Concentration of the extract used in the formulation was higher than the MIC. The result showed that the MIC of the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera leaves and the L. plantarum fermented milk were 20% and 35% with growth inhibition zone diameter of 11.70 ± 0.28 mm and 12.02 ± 0.83 mm, respectively. The combination of fermented milk and aqueous extract was prepared in various ratio concentration (1:9, 2:8, 3:7, 4:6, 5:5, 6:4, 7:3, 8:2, and 9:1). The optimum ratio of the combination was 2:8 with growth inhibition zone diameter of 16.53 ± 0.32 mm and the MIC value at optimum ratio was 45% with inhibition zone diameter of 11.90 ± 0.86 mm.