Antibacterial activity of curcuminoid derivatives resulted from hydrogenation reaction with Pd-C catalyst from turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes extract

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is one of the most commonly used plants for traditional medicine especially for antibacterial activity. However, because of its color, it is necessary to conduct a transformation reaction that can change the color of curcuminoid into colorless but still have antibacterial activity. The aim of this research was to analyze the antibacterial activity of tetrahydrocurcuminoid, derived from hydrogenation of curcuminoid isolated from turmeric extract towards Staphylococcus aureus and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Hydrogenation reaction was carried out using H2 gas with Pd-C catalyst to remove the conjugated double bond in curcuminoid to form tetrahydrocurcuminoid. Tetrahydrocurcuminoid then was purified by using silica gel column chromatography and characterized using UV-Vis and FTIR spectral data. Antibacterial activity of curcuminoid and tetrahydrocurcuminoid were tested against S. aureus and F. nucleatum using disc diffusion method. The antibacterial activity showed that tetrahydrocurcuminoid had a better antibacterial activity against S. aureus and F. nucleatum with average diameter of clear zone were 5.5 and 2.75 mm, respectively, than curcuminoid with 2 and 2.5 mm, respectively.