Antimicrobial soap development from leaf extract of

\nBacterial skin infections are most prevalent in humans. These skin infections can be easily prevented by the topical application of herbal soaps produced from the medicinal plants. Medicinal plants contain natural bioactive compounds with a variety of biological potential that can be used to incorporate into a basic soap formulation. This study aims to prepare the antibacterial soap using leaf extract of local medicinal plant, Rhinachantus nasutus. The leaf extract was prepared by maceration extraction using methanol as solvent. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the leaf extract and herbal soap were evaluated using the disc diffusion assay against Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The thump impression test was employed to test the effectiveness of the soap as antibacterial and antifungal soap. The results obtained from the current study revealed that the leaf extract of R. nasutus efficiently inhibited the growth of all test microorganisms at a concentration of 25 mg/mL with a diameter of inhibition zone ranging from 1.0 ± 0.1 mm to 2.5 ±0.1 mm, whereas a prepared soap with a similar concentration also inhibited all test microorganisms with an inhibition zone ranging from 0.7±0.1 mm to 1.3±0.1 mm. A thumb impression test result indicated a reduction in microbial development when using herbal soap. Leaf extracts of \nR.nasutus can be used to produce herbal soaps with remarkable antibacterial activity.\n