Antibacterial and Antioxidant Potential of Arisaema jacquemontii Blume from Manali, Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Manali is not only a famous tourist place but also a treasure of many  traditional medicines. The antibacterial and antioxidant potential of leaves,  tubers and fruit of Arisaema jacquemonti Blume were evaluated in different  extracts viz. acetone, chloroform, distilled water and methanol. The samples  were collected from the area of Manali. Using Agar-well diffusion method  and different concentrations of extracts (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%), the  antibacterial activity was tested against three Gram-negative bacteria  (Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Shigella dysenteriae) and two  Gram-positive bacteria (Lysteria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus).  Streptomycin (5 µg/ml) was taken as a standard antibiotic. Percent  inhibition of bacterial growth was calculated for each tested extract. The  tuber acetone, fruit methanol and leaf methanol extract were found to be  more effective against some the tested bacteria than the standard antibiotic  used. The chloroform and distilled water extract showed negligible results.  IC50 value was calculated after 2, 2 Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyal (DPPH) free  radical scavenging assay to investigate the antioxidant potential at different  concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 µg/ml). Ascorbic acid at similar  concentrations was taken as standard (IC50 = 31.33µg/ml). The methanol leaf extract was found to exhibit highest antioxidant potential with IC50  value of 47.89µg/ml followed by methanol-tuber, water- fruit, acetone-fruit  and methanol-fruit, acetone-tuber, acetone-leaf and water-leaf extracts. The  results can be taken as a base for further analysis and isolation of active  compounds of this plant.