Preliminary investigation of antibiotic potential from esters of citronella oil derivatives.

Microbial resistance due to the overuse of antibiotics has become a global health problem. The discovery and development of new active compounds to solve the antimicrobial resistance problems are urgently required. This research was conducted to study the antimicrobial potential of citronellyl isobutyrate (CIB) and geranyl isobutyrate (GIB). CIB and GIB are derivatives of citronella oil extracted from the lemongrass plant, one of the Indonesian native medicinal plants. The esters'antimicrobial was analyzed in vitro by antibacterial and antifungal tests using the agar diffusion method and compared to streptomycin sulfate as a standard. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was then evaluated using a serial microdilution assay. The esters exhibited moderate to vigorous antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans, with activity index (AI) values between 34.17-93.59%. The results revealed that the compounds have the potential to be developed as antibiotics. Therefore, this study is expected to help overcome the problem of antibiotic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]