Analytical and immunopharmacological studies of flavonoids: Mangifera indica and syzygium cumini

Abstract

Flavonoids are considered as one of the most diverse groups of phytonutrients and are reported in all kinds of fruits and vegetables. In phytonutrients, more than 6,000 types of flavonoid components have been reported. In view of this, our main objective is to extract the flavonoids from leaves of these medicinal plants i.e. Mangifera indica and Syzygium cumini, determine their properties analytically (HPLC, FTIR) and also examine their antioxidant (DPPH assay) and antimicrobial potential against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Materials and methods - In this study, qualitative analyses of these two medicinal plants were performed as per standard procedure. In addition, extraction of flavonoids from leaves was performed using methanol and ethyl acetate as a solvent system. Studies were also conducted for total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity using aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay and agar well diffusion assay respectively. Results - The results showed that the phenolic content of a medicinal plant often correlates with its antioxidant activity and this was confirmed through UV-Visible spectrophotometry and FTIR which were used in order to quantify the presence of functional groups. In contrast, these flavonoids showed antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity at higher doses as compared to control. Conclusion - Overall, flavonoid from these two medicinal plants especially leaves shows antioxidant activity, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity at higher doses. In short, these flavonoids should provide beneficial effects related to human health care.