Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF LEAF EXTRACTS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

Dr. Sonia Sethi*, Simran Khanna, Airambano Khan and Nanda Hatti

ABSTRACT

The present study was carried out to determine the phytochemical constituents, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity in the Azadirachta indica, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Momordica charantia, Momordica dioica, Costus igneus, Calathea zebrine, Maranta leucoreura and Ophiopogon japonicus medicinal plants. Out of eight plant samples tested, leaf extract of Maranta leucoreura showed highest total antioxidant capacity with 2440μg α-tocopherol content per milligram of the plant extract. Also reducing power activity in Costus igneus was found to be 85mg/ml and Calathea zebrine with 83mg/ml respectively. The antimicrobial potential of eight plants was screened against four bacteria E. coli, S. aureus, P. vulgaris and Streptococci sp, using well diffusion assay. Methanol extracts of Azadirachta indica, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Momordica charantia, Momordica dioica, Costus igneus, Calathea zebrine, Maranta leucoreura and Ophiopogon japonicus exhibited good activity against all the bacteria tested. The methanol leaf extracts of Momordica charantia showed significant activity against S. aureus (40mm), Streptococci sp (32mm) and E.coli (35mm). Leaf extract of Ocimum tenuiflorum exhibit highest activity against P. vulgaris (30mm) and E.coli (34mm). It can be inferred that the parts of plant having high content of phytochemicals may serve as a good source of nutraceuticals which have potential for use in health care formulations.

Keywords: Phytochemicals, Nutraceuticals, Antioxidant, Phenolics, Healthcare.