Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Artocarpus altilis Against Human Pathogens

Abstract

The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities have been performed using methanol fruit extract of Artocarpus altilis. Results of the phytochemical screening revealed that methanolic extract of A. altilis fruits contain flavonoids, phenols, steroids and glycosides. The investigation on these constituents was done using the phytochemical screening with modification. The soxhlet apparatus was employeded to extract the dried plant using methanol as a solvent.  It was observed that the extract has characteristics of antioxidant using DPPH assay. The antibacterial and antifungal potential of methanolic fruit extract were studied against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella spp, Penicillium notatum, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. This test was performed by using disc-diffusion method with different concentrations of fruit extract. It was found that one bacterial species (i.e. Staphylococcus aureus) showed inhibition zone with maximum (zone of inhibition≈15mm) using 150 mg/ml of fruit extract. Methanolic extracts of A. altilis had no effect on growth of the remaining microorganisms. The phytoconstituents and characteristics of microorganisms might be responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the extract. Further purifications of secondary metabolites and structural studies may lead to the isolation of the active compounds.