Goji Berry Extract (Lycium barbarum L.) Efficacy on Oral Pathogen Biofilms

Lycium barbarum L. fruit, which contains flavonoids and phenolic acids, has antibacterial properties that are expected to inhibit bacterial growth. The objective of this study is to determine the antibacterial and the antibiofilm effects of L.barbarum L. fruit ethanol extract towards S. mutans and P. gingivalis. An in-vitro laboratory experiment was performed with a post-test control group design. The extract of L.barbarum L. fruit was obtained by maceration technique using 96% ethanol as a solvent. The antibacterial assay was performed by microdilution and plate count methods. The antibiofilm effect was performed using a biofilm-assay method. The results of microdilution and plate count methods showed that the most effective antibacterial concentration against S. mutans and P. gingivalis was 100 µg/mL when compared with negative control (p < 0.05). In the biofilm assay, the most effective concentration against S. mutans was 100 µg/mL at the 3-hours incubation time, while for P. gingivalis, the most effective concentration was 100 µg/mL at 24-hours incubation time when compared with negative control (p<0.05). These results indicate that ethanol extract of L. barbarum L. fruit was demonstrated to have antibacterial and antibiofilm effects against oral pathogens S. mutans and P. gingivalis with 87.15% and 97.73% of biofilms reduction respectively.