Abstract

• Today, there are various types of infections. Among them, dental infections and skin infections are very common in developing countries. Myanmar medicinal plant; P.betel (KUN) used for the treatment of dental infections and skin infections, was screened for antimicrobial activity by agar disc diffusion technique. Polar and non-polar solvents were employed for the extraction of leaves of P. betel. Essential oil was obtained from leaves by steam distillation. The antimicrobial activity of crude extracts and essential oil of P. betel was studied on seven species of Staphylococcus aureus cultured from plaque of gingivitis and five strains of organisms which usually cause skin infections. It was observed that extracts and essential oil of P. betel were effective against all the tested microorganisms (11 mm - 40 mm). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the active extract was evaluated by agar disc diffusion method. Acute toxicity of 70 % ethanol and watery extracts of the leaves evaluated by the methods of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines showed no toxicity. Eugenol (0.1 %) was isolated from essential oil of P. betel and identified by UV, FT IR and EI-MS. In addition, an ointment was formulated with essential oil of P. betel and in-vivo test was performed on induced open wound infected with Staphylococcus aureus on rats. The ulcer healing was observed within 9 days. Moreover, in-vitro antioxidant activity of ethanol and watery extract were determined by Dot-Blot and DPPH staining method. The results thus indicated the possible uses of P. betel leaf in the formulations of drug for dental and skin infections.