Abstract
Background Anethum sowa L. is widely used as an important spice and traditional medicinal plants to treat various ailments. On the basis of scientific ethnobotanical information, this study was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of the crude extracts of Anethum sowa L. roots as well as to identify the classes of phytochemicals by chemical tests.MethodsThe antioxidant potential of the extracts was ascertained with the stable organic free radical (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl). The agar well diffusion method was used to determine the susceptibility of bacterial and fungal strains of the crude extracts. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined by the microdilution test. Cytotoxic activities were screened using brine shrimps (Artemia salina) lethality assay. Finally, phytochemicals were profiled using standard procedures.ResultsA preliminary phytochemical screening of the different crude extracts by methanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform showed the presence of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, saponin, cardiac glycosides and tannins while cyanogenetic glycosides were not detected. The methanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts displayed high antioxidant activity (IC50 = 13.08 ± 0.03, 33.48 ± 0.16 and 36.42 ± 0.41 μg/mL, respectively) in the DPPH assay comparable to that of the standard ascorbic acid and BHT (IC50 = 3.74 ± 0.05 and 11.84 ± 0.29 μg/mL). The cytotoxic activity of the crude ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts possessed excellent activity (LC50 = 5.03 ± 0.08, 5.23 ± 0.11 and 17.22 ± 0.14 μg/mL, respectively) against brine shrimp larvae after 24 h of treatment and compared with standard vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.46 ± 0.05 μg/mL). The extracts also showed good antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria when compared with two standard antibiotics ciprofloxacin and tetracycline.ConclusionThese results showed that the Anethum sowa root extracts are the important source of the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic agent. So, further research is necessary to isolate and characterize of different phytoconstituents for pharmaceutical drug lead molecules and also to verify its traditional uses.
Highlights
Anethum sowa L. is widely used as an important spice and traditional medicinal plants to treat various ailments
Phytochemical screening of extracts Qualitative phytochemical tests of Anethum sowa L. were performed for the methanol (MeOH), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), chloroform (CE), pet-ether (PE cold) and hexane (Hex.hot) extracts of the root
All the groups were absent in Petroleum ether (PE) and Hex.(hot) extracts except steroids
Summary
Anethum sowa L. is widely used as an important spice and traditional medicinal plants to treat various ailments. On the basis of scientific ethnobotanical information, this study was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of the crude extracts of Anethum sowa L. roots as well as to identify the classes of phytochemicals by chemical tests. Plant derived natural products are known to play an important role in both drug discovery and chemical biology. The medicinal properties of plants have been investigated due to their potent pharmacological activities, low toxicity and economic viability [1, 2]. There is an abundance of medicinal plants throughout the world, but only limited numbers have been investigated for its biological and pharmacological properties [3]. It is essential to study the medicinal plants so that the discovery of active natural products ingredient can be identified for healing diseases. The identified active ingredients could be synthesized in the laboratory
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
