Journal of Natural Remedies

T. Ghosh , T. K. Maity , A. Bose , G. K. Dash , M. Das

Abstract

Objective: To study the antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Bacopa monnieri Linn. Materials and methods: Minimum inhibitory concentration of the extract was performed by broth dilution method and the zone of inhibition was studied by agar disc diffusion method at concentrations of 2, 5 and 10 mg/ml in DMSO. Ciprofloxacin (5 μg/ml) and Cotrimazole (25 μg/ml) were used as reference controls for the antibacterial and antifungal studies respectively. Results: The results of MIC study revealed the antimicrobial activity of the extract against the tested strains of microorganisms between concentration ranges of 50 and 400 μg/ml. The results of zone of inhibition study revealed concentration dependant nature of the extract with better effectiveness against gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. Conclusion: The present study indicates the potential usefulness of B. monnieri aerial parts in the treatment of various pathogenic diseases as mentioned in the Ayurvedic literature.

Keywords

Bacopa monnieri Linn., Antibacterial Activity, Antifungal Activity, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, Zone of Inhibition

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T. Ghosh , T. K. Maity , A. Bose

Abstract

Objective: To study the in vitro antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract of leaves of Cajanus cajan Linn. Materials and methods: The antioxidant activity, reducing power, nitric oxide scavenging activity, superoxide radical scavenging activity, anti lipid peroxidation activity and total phenolics of the ethanolic extract of Cajanus cajan were studied in vitro as parameters to investigate its antioxidant potential. Results: The reducing power of the extract was found to be concentration dependant. The absorbance increased with increasing amount of the sample. The antioxidant activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, superoxide radical scavenging activity and anti lipid peroxidation activity were also concentration dependant with IC₅₀ value being 324.59 μg/ml, 46.42 μg/ml, 35.24 μg/ ml and 338.02 μg/ml respectively. The activities were found to be comparable with the reference drugs. Amount of total phenolics was found to be 39.8 μg of pyrocatechol equivalent per mg of extract. Conclusion: The results obtained in the present study indicate that ethanolic extract of C. Cajunus is a potential source of natural antioxidants.

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