World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE IN-VITRO EFFECTS OF THE ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF THREE DIFFERENT MEDICINAL PLANTS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

George Saramma* and Sajini Souda

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to evaluate the in-vitro effect of the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial effects of the methanol extract of three different medicinal plants of Southern Africa. The plants used in this study were Ocimum gratissimum, Momordica balsamina and Hypoxis hemerocallidea, they were named as methanol extracts of MEOG, MEMB and MEHHC respectively. The total antioxidant status was evaluated using DPPH, TBA and ABTS assays and the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method was used to determine total phenolic content. Phytochemical screening was conducted to detect bioactive constituents. Antimicrobial activity was determined with diffusion assays, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration assays. The results show that MEHHC exhibited the maximum antioxidant activity and ability to scavenge DPPH radicals. A relatively high TPC was observed and there was a strong association between antioxidative activities and phenolic compounds (R =0.871), suggesting that the antioxidant potential was due to the phenolic content. The MEHHC exhibited maximum anti-fungal activity against C. albicans and variable antibacterial activity against the Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. There was more pronounced activity against the tested Gram positive bacteria, particularly S. aureus (including the MRSA ATCC 430043 strain) whereas E. coli, S. typhimurium and K. pneumoniae displayed the lowest susceptibility. MEHHC showed the maximum antioxidant potential followed by MEOG and MEMB. Antimicrobial activity was also greater for MEHHC followed by MEMB and in lesser amounts for MEOG.

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