The Potential of Gliricidia sepium Plant Extract as Antibacterial and Antifungal: A Review

resistances against the most recurrently used antibiotics, have kept the medical industry in searching for new sources of compounds with antimicrobial activity. One resource that is considered to be a cache of various bioactive compounds are plants and along with different studies regarding traditional health care practices have led researchers to the tree Gliricidia sepium. It is a leguminous tree believed to have a number of benefits among the ethnic groups in South and Southeast Asia as well as Central and South America. With this premise, G. sepium has been a focus of in-vitro antimicrobial studies to describe and measure its extract's potency against commonly infective microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. These studies have returned with promising results capable of competing with antibiotics like ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, and tobramycin and antifungal such as amphotericin-B. To justify the antimicrobial activity of G. sepium, several of these studies performed subsequent phytochemical analysis which identified different complex chemicals like tannins, flavonoids, and alkaloids which are historically linked with antimicrobial activity. The results of the different tests performed establish G. sepium as a good alternative for antimicrobials.