ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIBACTERIAL AND TOXICITY STUDIES OF AERIAL PARTS OF Ludwigia adscendens L.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to figure out and scientifically establish the possible antioxidant, antibacterial, and toxic potentials of the plant Ludwigia adscendens through various established in vitro and in vivo test models. Dried and pulverized aerial part of this plant was extracted in cold with petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol and these crude extracts were subjected as such against some test to evaluate their antioxidant, toxicity and antibacterial properties. The crude methanolic extract showed more potent activity than other extracts in 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and Nitric oxide (NO) scavenging assay methods with IC 50 values of 11.5 µg/mL and 28.7 µg/mL respectively. The reducing power of all the fractions were found to be concentration dependent. The methanol extract also showed the highest total phenolic content (TPC), total tannin content (TTC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) and were 105.6 mg gallic acid equivalent per g (GAE/g), 24.2 mg GAE/g, and 74.1 mg quercetin equivalent per g (QE/g) of dried  plant extract, respectively. The methanol extract exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against all selected bacterial strains except Staphylococcus aureus at two different concentrations of 250 µg/disc and 500 µg/disc. In toxicity study, using brine shrimp nauplii the LD50 value of methanol extract was found to be 25.1 µg/mL. This study demonstrates the traditionally used plant L. adscendens as a possible source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobial drugs.