Antimicrobial Properties of Optimized Microwave-assisted Pyroligneous Acid from Oil Palm Fiber

The demands for an antimicrobial agent of natural origin has increasingly grown in recent years due to the adverse health effects from the long-term application of conventional chemical-based agent. To date, there are very few reports available on the use of pyroligneous acid produced in optimized condition, as antimicrobial agent. Thus, this study reports on the evaluation of the antimicrobial properties of oil palm fiber-derived pyroligneous acid produced using microwave heating at optimum condition (MWPA). The optimized MWPA was concentrated and extracted using ethyl acetate and was further determined for its antimicrobial properties against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial strains through Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Biocidal Concentration (MBC) analysis. Results obtained shows that MWPA exhibited high inhibition zone that varied between 13 ± 0.58 to 28.67 ± 0.88 mm toward all strains screened in the present study with low range of MIC value from 0.651 ± 0.13 to 1.563 ± 0.00 mg/ml. This indicated that CPAEA MWPA derived from OPF exhibited a strong antimicrobial activity and might be projected as alternative natural source as antimicrobial agent.