Antibacterial activity of Piper sarmentosum against rice pathogens

Piper sarmentosum is a cultivated plant that is also found wild in South East Asia. It is well known due to its medicinal properties and a variety of active chemical constituents. The potential of the plant extract against bacterial leaf blight and sheath brown rot of rice caused by Pseudomonas fuscovaginae and Xanthomonas oryzae, respectively, were evaluated in this study. The antibacterial activities of the methanolic leaf extract of P. sarmentosum were screened for potential use as a biological control agent against rice pathogenic bacteria.The P. sarmentosum leaf extract possessed killing effects against both bacterial strains tested. Between the two bacteria isolates, X. oryzae appeared to be most susceptible to the extract. The phenolic compounds present in the leaf and fruit extracts of P. sarmentosum were further identified using HPLC analysis.The results obtained from this study suggest that the leaf and fruit extracts of P. sarmentosum have potential to be developed as a novel bactericide.