Abstract
Abstract This study assessed the antimicrobial, toxicity, and phytochemical profiles of Myristica fragrans extracts. Different solvent extracts were tested for antimicrobial activity against clinical and reference microbial strains, using disc and well diffusion assays and microdilution techniques. Antioxidant potential was investigated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. Cytotoxicity assay was conducted against human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Acute toxicity was assessed in laboratory Swiss albino mice at a single dose of 2,000 mg/kg body weight for 14 days. To assess the phytochemical constituents, spectrophotometric and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods were used. The chloroform extract revealed antimicrobial potencies against the Gram-positive bacteria and C. albicans with minimum inhibitory concentrations. In the DPPH assay, the IC50 value of the chloroform extract was determined to be 1.49 mg/mL. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were 26.64 ± 0.1 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g and 8.28 ± 0.1 mg quercetin equivalents/g, respectively. The IC50 value was determined to be 49 µg/mL against the HUVEC line. No mortality or morbidity was observed. GC-MS analysis indicated the presence of 2-cyclopenten-1-one (44.72%) as a major compound. The current results provide scientific support for the use of M. fragrans in folk medicine.
Highlights
The current attention paid to medicinal herbs is attributed to their worldwide availability and use in traditional therapies [1]
The M. fragrans chloroform (MFC) extract contained a considerable amount of phenols (26.64 ± 0.1 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract) and flavonoids (8.28 ± 0.1 mg quercetin equivalent (QuE)/g extract)
3.2 DPPH radical scavenging activity extract resulted in an fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index value of 1.49 and 1.24 against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis, respectively, which demonstrated no effect in combination with chloramphenicol (Table 2)
Summary
The current attention paid to medicinal herbs is attributed to their worldwide availability and use in traditional therapies [1]. There is an urgent need for natural therapeutic products with antibacterial and antioxidant activities capable of curing microbial infection and reducing the damaging effects of free radicals [5]. The toxicity of most medicinal herbs has not been investigated, it is often believed that extracts derived from natural sources are safer than synthetic compounds [6,7,8]. Among these phytochemicals, phenols and flavonoids display diverse and potent biological activities [9]
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