DETERMINATION OF PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL POTENCY OF CURCUMA LONGA EXTRACTS

Abstract

To test the antibacterial potential of prepared MeOH extracts of rhizome and leaves, well diffusion method was used as described before (Khurshid et al., 2019). Bacterial broth culture was spread evenly on solid agar plates along with making five wells of 6 mm diameter per In present study Curcuma longa (C. longa), a medicinal plant, reported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimalarial, insect repellant, antiseptic, analgesic and wound healing properties was selected. Its leaves and rhizomes were used to prepare extracts in methanol (MeOH) aiming to evaluate their antioxidant and antibacterial potential. Our results confirmed that C. longa extracts exhibited noticeable antioxidant and antibacterial activities. The antioxidant activity of rhizomes and leaves extracts was IC50 = 0.064 ± 0.01 and IC50 = 0.28 ± 0.04mg/ml, respectively. Both extracts showed concentration dependent and bacteria dependent zones of inhibition (ZoI). The bacterial susceptibility trend at highest tested concentration (120mg/ml) was as S. enterica>E. coli>S. pyogenes>B. cereus>S. aureus for rhizome extract and B. cereus=S. aureus>E. coli>S. enterica> S. pyogenes for leaves extract. Interestingly, higher ZoI are shown by rhizomes than leaves extract. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of important constituents responsible for observed bacterial inhibition proposing C. longa rhizome as potent candidates to inhibit bacteria in future.