Abstract
Helianthus annuus has been widely used for its medicinal and nutritional properties. This study was aimed at assessing the ethyl acetate, n-hexane and methanol extracts of Helianthus annuus for antibacterial and antioxidant potentials. The phytochemical screening, total phenols, DPPH radical scavenging assay and nitric oxide radical scavenging activity were carried out following standard procedures. Preliminary screening of the antibacterial activities of the extracts was carried out on five bacterial species (Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae), using the agar-diffusion method. Growth rate studies in presence of the extract was investigated on two bacterial species (Bacillus subtilis and E. coli). The methanol extract was observed to inhibit the growth of the five bacterial species while ethyl acetate and N-hexane extracts showed inhibition against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Extended lag periods of 5 - 6 h were observed when the Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli were grown in broth medium that contained the respective extracts. In broth medium with mixture of extract and ascorbic acid, there was no observed growth of the Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli throughout the 7 h incubation period. The total phenolics content of the extracts revealed concentrations of 6.66 ±0.45, 5.58 ±0.11 and 6.06±0.41 mg TAE.g-1) for the methanol, N-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging assay results displayed gradual increase in percentage inhibition from the lowest to the highest concentration across all the standard groups, a similar trend was observed with the extracts, the ethyl acetate extract showed highest percentage inhibition amongst the other extracts. All the extracts showed high reducing power ability. The nitric oxide scavenging ability of the extracts showed constant increase with increase in concentration. Helianthus annus, it could be a good source of antimicrobial and antioxidant especially in a world where resistance to antibiotic has increasingly become a global concern.
Highlights
Plants are of great economic value all over the world as it has been as raw materials in the industries especially the pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmetics (Eze et al, 2015; Ibrahim et al.,2014)
Analysis of the phytochemical analysis present in Helianthus annuus reveals that it contained phenolics, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, saponins, carbohydrates, tannins, phytosterols, triterpenoids and fixed oils
For the DPPH radical scavenging assay, gradual increase in percentage inhibition from the lowest to the highest concentration was observed across all the standard groups
Summary
Plants are of great economic value all over the world as it has been as raw materials in the industries especially the pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmetics (Eze et al, 2015; Ibrahim et al.,2014). Despite the advent of modern medicine, plant extracts and its constituents are being used traditionally as therapy in 70 – 80% of the world population to meet their health needs, most especially the rural dwellers in developing countries (Ibrahim et al.,2014; Subashini and Rakshitha, 2012). Most of these claims has not been scientifically proven as only few plants have been evaluated of their therapeutic effects. Helianthus annuus seed can be used as salad garnish, snacks and some bakery goods (Guo et al, 2017)
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