Assessment of the Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Ziziphus lotus and Peganum harmala

Abstract

Recently, the intensive use of drugs created several side effects one among which is the microbial resistance. To address this problem, medicinal plants have received the attention of researchers due to the various active compounds they contain. This study aims to determine the antioxidant and the antimicrobial activity of methanol extract of two plant species widely used in traditional medicine in the Mediterranean basin: Ziziphus lotus and Peganum harmala. Four microbial strains were tested: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. For each extract, antioxidant activity was evaluated using the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) radical scavenging assay along with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Results showed that Z. lotus stems extract inhibited all the tested bacteria but not the yeast C. albicans. Meanwhile, P. harmala seeds extract demonstrated growth inhibition on all the tested strains. However, the antioxidant activity was significantly higher in Z. lotus. Taking all together, both species proved to be effective antioxidant and antimicrobial agents and consequently, they may constitute a better alternative than the usual drugs to avoid microbial resistance.