| Summary: | Uncaria tomentosa (Rubiaceae), locally known as ‘kait-kait’ has long been used for medicinal purposes to heal various diseases, including those related to bacterial infection. In an attempt to search for new antimicrobial agents, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm potentials of hexane (Hx), dichloromethane (DCM), and 80% ethanolic (EtOH) stem extracts of Malaysian U. tomentosa against five oral streptococci bacteria namely S. salivarius, S. mitis, S. uberis, S. mutans and S. anginosus. The antibacterial assay employed the agar-well diffusion method where cycloheximide was used as the positive control, while minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined through resazurin microtiter assay using 96-well microtiter plates. On the other hand, the antibiofilm activity was investigated using a crystal violet assay. The DCM stem extract was found to be active against all tested bacterial strains with ZOI ranging from 10.3±0.6 to 16.0±1.0 mm, and a MIC value of 234.4 µg/mL. Compared to average biofilm growth, the extract reduced biofilm formation by at least 50%. Phytochemical work on the DCM extract afforded four compounds elucidated as isopteropodine (1), pteropodine (2), β-sitosterol (3), and scopoletin (4). These four compounds have been previously reported to exhibit antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains. The findings provide evidence to support the plant’s traditional use and could be the source of antibacterial and antibiofilm agents for further studies. © 2024, Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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