Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Caesalpinia sappan L. (Sappan Wood) Extract: A Preliminary Study Toward Toothpaste Application

Year 2025, Volume: 45 Issue: 4 , 316 - 328 , 01.12.2025

Euis Reni Yuslianti , Agus Susanto , Afifah Bambang Sutjiatmo , Wahyu Widowati , Vini Ayuni , Dhanar Septyawan Hadiprasetyo , Nadia Amalia

https://doi.org/10.52794/hujpharm.1639004

https://izlik.org/JA33GN97SN

Abstract

Dental and oral diseases often arise from food debris in the mouth, which leads to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that facilitate interactions among microorganisms and result in dental plaque formation. This issue can be addressed by using herbal plants with minimal side effects. Sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) is extensively used in traditional medical systems to treat a myriad of conditions, from tuberculosis, diarrhea, dysentery, skin infections, and anemia. This research seeks to determine the potential of sappan wood extract as effective antioxidants and antibacterial agents in combating dental problems. The method started with the extraction of sappan wood heartwood using ethanol 70% as a solvent. Antioxidant tests were conducted through ABTS, DPPH, nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) tests, as well as antimicrobial evaluation using the disc diffusion method, Minimum Bactericide Concentration (MBC), and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). Antioxidant activities with IC50 ABTS>DPPH>NO> H2O2 (18.42 ± 0.35 μg/mL, 41.20 ± 0.26 μg/mL,76.47 ± 0.59 μg/mL, and 90.25 ± 0.29 μg/mL). The antimicrobial compounds in sappan wood showed inhibitory effects starting at 12.5-25% concentration on S. mutans, P. gingivalis and C. albicans (1.27 mm; 53.41%, 0.81 mm; 54.86%, and 2.15 mm; 56.14%). Sappan wood extract can be an antioxidant and antibacterial agent in preventing dental problems.

Keywords

Antioxidant , Antimicrobial activity , Caesalpinia sappan , Dental health , tooth plaque

References

• 1. Yap A. Oral health equals total health: a brief review. J. Dent. Indones. 2017;24(2). https://doi.org/10.14693/jdi.v24i2.1122
• 2. Jain N, Dutt U, Radenkov I, Jain S. WHO’s global oral health status report 2022: Actions, discussion and implementation. Oral Dis. 2024;30(2):73-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.14516
• 3. Rathee M, Sapra A. Dental Caries. 2023. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan.
• 4. Nazir MA. Prevalence of periodontal disease, its association with systemic diseases and prevention. Int J Health Sci (Qassim). 2017;11(2):72-80.
• 5. Elgreu T, Lee S, Wen S, Elghadafi R, Tangkham T, Ma Y, et al. The pathogenic mechanism of oral bacteria and treatment with inhibitors. Clin Exp Dent Res. 2022;8(1):439-448. https://doi.org/10.1002/cre2.499
• 6. Qi F, Huang H, Wang M, Rong W, Wang J. Applications of antioxidants in dental procedures. Antioxidants (Basel). 2022;11(12):2492. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox11122492
• 7. Lemos JA, Palmer SR, Zeng L, Wen ZT, Kajfasz JK, Freires IA, et al. The biology of Streptococcus mutans. Microbiol Spectr. 2019;7(1):10. https://doi.org/10.1128/microbiolspec.GPP3-0051-2018.
• 8. Xiang Z, Wakade RS, Ribeiro AA, Hu W, Bittinger K, Simon-Soro A, et al. Human tooth as a fungal niche: Candida albicans traits in dental plaque isolates. mBio. 2023;14(1):e0276922. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02769-22
• 9. How KY, Song KP, Chan KG. Porphyromonas gingivalis: an overview of periodontopathic pathogen below the gum line. Front Microbiol. 2016;7:53. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00053
• 10. Dakkaki J, Ibenmoussa S, Sidqui M. Contributions of medicinal plants in the treatment of oral diseases. OALib. 2023;10(07):1–26. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1109935
• 11. Listiani FI, Hafshah M, Latifah RN. Antibacterial activity test of secang wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) ethanol extract against Streptococcus mutans. Al-Kimia. 2023;11(1). https://doi.org/10.24252/al-kimia.v11i1.37136
• 12. Putri BM, Wasita B, Febrinasari RP. Antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of secang wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.), gotu kola (Centella asiatica L.), and their combinations with DPPH assay. InProceeding of International Conference on Science, Health, And Technology. 2021;45-49. https://doi.org/10.47701/icohetech.v1i1.1081
• 13. Girsang E, Ginting CN, Lister IN, Zahiroh FH, Kusuma HS, Widowati W. Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Salacca zalacca (Gaertn.) Peel Extract on Pb-induced Fibroblast Cells. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine. 2025;8(3):212-8. https://doi.org/10.4103/jnsm.jnsm_207_23
• 14. Widowati W, Darsono L, Lucianus J, Setiabudi E, Obeng SS, Stefani S, et al. Butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea L.) extract displayed antidiabetic effect through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lower hepatic GSK-3β, and pancreatic glycogen on Diabetes Mellitus and dyslipidemia rat. J King Saud Univ Sci, 2023;35(4):102579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102579
• 15. Widowati W, Wargasetia TL, Kurniawati V, Rachmaniar R. In-vitro study of potential antioxidant activities of mangosteen and its nanoemulsions. Med Plants - Int J Phytomed. 2023;15(3):534–542. https://doi.org/10.5958/0975-6892.2023.00053.9
• 16. Koeth LM, Miller LA. Antimicrobial susceptibility test methods: dilution and disk diffusion methods. MCM. 2019;12:1284-1299. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781683670438.mcm0074
• 17. Balouiri M, Sadiki M, Ibnsouda SK. Methods for in vitro evaluating antimicrobial activity: A review. JPA. 2016;1–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2015.11.005
• 18. Alharbi SF, Althbah AI, Mohammed AH, Alrasheed MA, Ismail M, Allemailem KS, et al. Microbial and heavy metal contamination in herbal medicine: a prospective study in the central region of Saudi Arabia. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024;24(1):2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-023-04307-y
• 19. Baliyan S, Mukherjee R, Priyadarshini A, Vibhuti A, Gupta A, Pandey RP, et al. Determination of antioxidants by DPPH radical scavenging activity and quantitative phytochemical analysis of Ficus religiosa. Molecules. 2022;27(4):1326. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041326
• 20. Mu’nisa A, Hala Y, Muflihunna A. Analysis of phenols and antioxidants infused sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.). IJSDR. 2017;2(9).
• 21. Anisa R, Naid T, Malik A, Nisaa NR. Antioxidant Activity Test of Sappan (Caesalpinia sappan L.) and Chinese Teak (Senna alexandrina) Extract Combination Using DPPH (1, 1 Diphenyl 2 Picrylhydrazyl) Free Radicals Scavenging Method. Jurnal Fitofarmaka Indonesia. 2023 Dec 31;10(3):77-82. https://doi.org/10.33096/jffi.v10i3.1103
• 22. Purba BA, Pujiarti R, Masendra M, Lukmandaru G. Total Phenolic, Flavonoid, Tannin Content and DPPH Scavenging Activity of Caesalpinia sappan Linn. Bark. Wood. Research Journal. 2022;13(2):63-8.
• 23. Vij T, Anil PP, Shams R, Dash KK, Kalsi R, Pandey VK, et al. A comprehensive review on bioactive compounds found in Caesalpinia sappan L. Molecules. 2023;28(17):6247. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28176247
• 24. Fernando CD, Soysa P. Optimized enzymatic colorimetric assay for determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging activity of plant extracts. MethodsX. 2015;2:283-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2015.05.001
• 25. Firdawati N, Kuntana YP, Ghozali M, Utama GL, Panigoro R, Safitri R. Antioxidant activity of sappan wood extract (Caesalpinia sappan L.) as an adjuvant and substitution in blood serum of rats (Rattus norvegicus) iron overload model. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 2023;1211(1):012006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1211/1/012006
• 26. Safitri R., Reniarti L., Madihah M., Delia L., Syamsunarno M., & Panigoro R.. The effect of sappan wood extract (Caesalpinia sappan), wheat grass and vitamin E treatment on the liver structure of iron overload of rat (Rattus norvegicus). Kne Life Sciences 2017;3(6):497. https://doi.org/10.18502/kls.v3i6.1159
• 27. Sasongko H, Hedianti DP, Safitri LI. Caesalpinia sappan L. Reduce fever with an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanism: a review. JPSCR: J Pharm Sci Clin Res. 2024;9(1):119. https://doi.org/10.20961/jpscr.v9i1.79562
• 28. Habu JB, Ibeh BO. In vitro antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging evaluation of active metabolite constituents of Newbouldia laevis ethanolic leaf extract. Biol Res. 2015;48(1):16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-015-0007-x
• 29. Lee MJ, Lee HS, Kim H, Yi HS, Park SD, Moon HI, et al. RETRACTED: antioxidant properties of benzylchroman derivatives from Caesalpinia sappan L. against oxidative stress evaluated in vitro. Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry. 2010;25(5):608-14. https://doi.org/10.3109/14756360903373376
• 30. Ratnavathi CV, Patil JV, Chavan UD. Sorghum biochemistry: an industrial perspective. Elsevier UK. Academic Press; 2016. 358p
• 31. Huang Z., Chen P., Su W., Wang Y., Wu H., Peng W.et al.. Antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective potential of quercetin 7-rhamnoside in vitro and in vivo. Molecules 2018;23(5):1188. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23051188
• 32. Singh G, Passsari AK, Leo VV, Mishra VK, Subbarayan S, Singh BP, et al. Evaluation of phenolic content variability along with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic potential of selected traditional medicinal plants from India. Front Plant Sci. 2016;7:407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.00407
• 33. Razmavar S, Abdulla MA, Ismail SB, Hassandarvish P. Antibacterial activity of leaf extracts of Baeckea frutescens against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Biomed Res Int. 2014:521287. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/521287
• 34. Safitri R, Siahaan M, Ghozali M. Antimicrobial activity of sappan wood extract (Caesalpinia sappan L.) against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Int J Health Sci. 2022;7881–7896. https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6nS1.6797
• 35. Barnes V L, Heithoff DM, Mahan SP, House JK, Mahan MJ. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing to evaluate minimum inhibitory concentration values of clinically relevant antibiotics. STAR Protoc. 2023;4(3):102512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102512
• 36. Budi HS, Soesilowati P, Jati Wirasti M. Antibacterial activity of sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) against Aggregatibacter Actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Sys Rev Pharm. 2020;11(3):349-353. https://doi.org/10.5530/srp.2020.3.43