GC/MS profiling, in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial and haemolytic activities of Smilax macrophylla leaves

Abstract

The current study has been designed to appraise the antioxidant, antimicrobial and haemolytic potential of Smilax macrophylla leaves. The n-hexane fraction was analysed by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer which revealed the presence of 38 compounds. All examined extracts and fractions of plant leaves showed significant antimicrobial activity. The haemolytic effect of the plant was found to be in a range of 3.41–8.48%. S. macrophylla leaves contained substantial level of total phenolic contents (2.2–6.2 Gallic acid equivalent mg/g) and total flavonoid contents (1.2–4.5 Catechin, mg/g) of dry plant matter. Leaf extract and fractions also exhibited a good antioxidant potential when measured by DPPH radical scavenging assay (Inhibitory concentration 50%=33.4–72.3μg/mL). The antioxidant activity of plant extracts was also studied using sunflower oil as an oxidative substrate and found that it stabilized the oil. Significant (p<0.05) variations were observed in the results. The correlation between the results of different antioxidant assays and oxidation parameters of oil indicated that leaf extracts and fractions, exhibit considerable total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents and scavenging power, along with more potent for enhancing the oxidative stability of sunflower oil. Considering these results, S. macrophylla could be used as a source for the exploration of new antimicrobial, antioxidant agents, functional food and nutraceutical applications.