Effect of Steam Distillation Time on Antimicrobial Activity of Kaffir Lime Hydrosol to Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

This study was conducted in order to investigate the antimicrobial activity of kaffir lime hydrosol produced from steam distillation at different times to gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The study measured the antimicrobial activity of kaffir lime hydrosol produced from steam distillation at different times against S. aureus (gram-positive) and E. coli (gram-negative) bacteria. Hydrosols were obtained from steam distillation time of 4, 6 and 8 hours. Antimicrobial activity was represented by the clear zone in the disk-diffusion method. The clear zone on the paper disk indicates the diameter of the bacterial inhibition zone. Testing for the strength of inhibition was done using paper disks. The largest diameter of the zone of inhibition was found in the hydrosol of kaffir lime oil obtained from 6 hours of distillation time, amounting to 0.783 cm in gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus) and 0.73 cm in gram-negative bacteria (E. coli). Hydrosol of kaffir lime oil with variation in distillation times proved resistant to gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.