Standard Quality and Antibacterial Activity Tests of Clove Oil in Solid Soap Production Against Staphylococcus Aureus, Staphylococcus Epidermidis and Escherichia Coli

This study aims to determine the quality and antibacterial activity of clove oil-solid soap production against three kinds of bacteria. Soap production was initiated by saponification reaction of olive, palm, coconut and castor oils with sodium hydroxide. Clove oil (2 and 3%) was added to the saponizing reaction as an antibacterial agent. Quality test of solid-soap was based on Indonesian National Standard (INS) 2016. The in vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureusATCC 25923, Staphylococcus epidermidis FNCC 0048, and Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 in clove oil-solid soap was investigated using the Kirby-Bauer Diffusion method. The results show that quality test of all the solid soaps have fulfilled the INS requirements and performs inhibition against all bacteria. It suggests that clove oil is potentially used as an antibacterial agent in the manufacture of bath soap.