Antibacterial, Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Potential of Vitex Negundo Var. Negundo and Vitex Negundo Var. Purpurascens – A Comparative Study

Abstract

The present study was carried out to estimate the content of total phenolics, flavonoids, negundoside and agnuside and to determine  antibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant efficacy of methanol extract of two varieties of Vitex negundo namely V. negundo var. negundo (Vnvn) and V. negundo var. purpurascens (Vnvp). Total phenolic and flavonoid content of leaf extracts were estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and Aluminium chloride colorimetric estimation method respectively. Negundoside and agnuside content were estimated using HPLC. Antibacterial activity of both the extracts was tested by Agar well diffusion assay. Cytotoxicity of extract was evaluated by Brine shrimp lethality bioassay. Antioxidant activity of extracts was determined by DPPH free radical scavenging and Ferric  reducing assay. The content of total phenolics and flavonoid were higher in extract of Vnvp. Negundoside and agnuside contents were high in Vnvn and Vnvp respectively. Leaf extract of Vnvp was shown to display marked antibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant activity when compared with extract of Vnvn. Both the varieties of V. negundo showed marked antibacterial, cytotoxic and antioxidant activity. The extract of Vnvp displayed marked bioactivities than that of extract of Vnvn. The presence of high phenolic and flavonoid content could be attributed to the marked bioactivities of Vnvp.