Phytochemical analysis, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Pereskia bleo flowers

Abstract

Pereskia bleo, belongs to the Cactaceae family has been traditionally used for treating various diseases. This study aimed to determine the phytochemical analysis, antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, and total flavonoid content of Pereskia bleo flowers. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of glycoside, alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin, tannin, steroid, and terpenoid. The antioxidant activity test indicated that the crude extract of Pereskia bleo flowers had an average IC50 value of 6 ± 0.4359, confirming positive results in the phenolic content test. The total phenolic content of the Pereskia bleo flower crude extract was calculated as 75.295 mg/g at a concentration of 15.059 μg/ml and absorbance of 0.165. In contrast, the calculated total flavonoid content was 7.385 mg/g at a concentration of 9.477 μg/ml, suggesting the present of flavonoid compounds in the flowers of Pereskia bleo. The antibacterial activity of this sample was also tested using the disc-diffusion method against Gram-negative (Salmonella sp., Pseudomonas sp., E. coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus epidermidis) bacterial strains. The collected data showed that both 100 μg/ml and 500 μg/ml sample concentrations exhibited potent activity against Salmonella sp. and Pseudomonas sp.