Indonesia tropical climate is hot enough to cause excessive sweating. Those who has this problem on their feet may experience unwanted odorous feet. To deal with this problem, there must be ointment or any natural solution worth to find. Such idea has pushed Pramudia Sunandar (Biology Education), Rahmanisa Laila Fitri Aditia (Biology Education) and Asmi Aris (Chemistry Education) to use salacca zalacca (salak or snake fruit) as one of natural solution which has potential with its antimicrobial properties.
Salak is quite easy to find in Yogyakarta. Unfortunately, this fruit skin mostly become a waste. Apart from this fact, it is amazing to note that the skin naturally has antibacterial property. According to Aditia Pramudia Sunandar, the results of phytochemical tests showed that the flesh and skin of zalacca contains flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids. "Compounds not contained in salak skin are saponins, steroids and triterpenoids," Aditia said "The skin of zalacca has the potential as a traditional medicine because the compounds it contains are in the form of flavonoid compounds which can reduce blood sugar levels". Rahmanisa Laila Fitri added that zalacca skin can be used as an anti-bacterial compound because it contains flavonoids, tanani, and alkaloids. "Flavonoids act as antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and hypo-allergenic properties," he explained. Flavonoids show low toxicity to mammals so some flavonoids are used as medicine for humans.
Asmi Aris explained, the ingredients used to make salak skin ointment include salak skin, ethanol, nutrient agar (NA), aquades, Trichophyton mentagophytes mushroom culture, Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA), NaOH 0.01 N, HCl 0.01 N , amoxicilyne 500 mg, Cloromphenicol 10%, n-hexane, cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), Triethanolamine (TEA), alcohol, umbrella paper, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, tissue, mask , and Nipagin.
This research was conducted at the Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences UNY for extraction procedures and the Microbiology Laboratory majoring in Biology Education for testing the inhibition of Trichophytonmentagrophytes fungi.
Salak ointment has been tested and positively give beneficial value for direct skin application the ointment keep your feet moist and successfully prevented the growth of Staphylococcus Epidermidis bacteria that cause odor in the feet. This work won research funding from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of UNY. (Dedy; Tj.Lak)
