ANALYSIS OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIAL OF Putranjiva roxburghii Wall.

Abstract

Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. has been historically credited with a significant role in the traditional Unani and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. The present study was an attempt for evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy of the methanolic extracts from the bark and seeds using various in vitro assays. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was estimated using the DPPH radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. Extract concentrations in the range of 50 – 500 $\lambda$g/ml for bark and 200 – 2000 $\lambda$g/ml for seed were assayed to determine the IC50 values in DPPH assay. For the evaluation of Ferric reducing capacity, concentrations in the range 50 – 1000 $\lambda$g/ml were compared. The extracts were also analyzed for antibacterial and antifungal activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The results suggested that bark has significant antioxidant and antimicrobial properties than the extract of seed. The IC50 for bark and seed extract were 129.47 $\lambda$g/ml and 1978.7 $\lambda$g/ml respectively. Both the DPPH and ferric reducing assays suggested a dose dependent increase in extract efficiency to scavenge and to reduce the free radicals. The antimicrobial activity suggested that bark extract could inhibit bacterial (IZ 10 – 12 mm) and fungal growth (IZ = 12 – 14 mm) at 1000 $\lambda$g/ml concentrations.