LAUSR

Objective: This work aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial properties of white tea maceration extract against pathogenic oral bacteriaStreptococcus mutans (serotype F), Porphyromonas gingivalis (strain ATCC 33277), and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (phenotype A); theproperties of this product were also tested against non-pathogenic Streptococcus sanguis (ATCC 10556) for comparison.Methods: A maceration extract was made from white tea collected from West Java, and the infusion was prepared at concentrations of 5–80%. Theselected strains of each microbial species were cultured under anaerobic conditions, and equalized standard dilutions of the cultured bacteria wereused for testing. Dilution and diffusion tests were conducted to quantify the antimicrobial properties of white tea extract (WTE) against the bacteria.Results: The dilution test results showed a minimum inhibitory concentration of 40% of WTE against S. mutans, P. gingivalis, andA. actinomycetemcomitans and 80% against S. sanguis. The minimum bactericidal concentration was 80% for all tested bacterial strains.Conclusion: The diffusion test results showed higher inhibition with increasing extract concentration; however, the difference between concentrationsof 40% and 80% was small or negligible, except for A. actinomycetemcomitans. These results imply the clear, acute antimicrobial effect of WTE againstthe tested oral anaerobic pathogens in vitro. Considering that these effects were concentration dependent and that white tea has the highest contentof antimicrobial phenolic compounds among all grades of (green) tea, white tea or WTE may be useful for inhibiting the growth of pathogens involvedin the development of caries and/or periodontal disease.