Study on the Phytochemical, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of <I>Simarouba glauca</I>

Abstract

Since time immemorial Simarouba glauca has been used as a natural medicine in tropics. Crude petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extracts from dried leaves of S. glauca were tested for the antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Preliminary screenings for the phytochemicals were done using the standard qualitative methods. Antibacterial activity was studied using disc diffusion assay against the organisms like Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Bacillus, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas sp and Escherichia coli. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using total antioxidant assay, Hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and 2,2,‐diphenyl‐1‐ picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenol, terpenoids, proteins, steroids, and carbohydrate in the ethyl acetate extract and terpenoids and steroids in the petroleum ether extract.Both extracts showed significant antioxidant activity in a dose dependent manner. However, ethyl acetate extract was found to be more effective as compared to petroleum ether extract. Antibacterial activity was not found to be significant. The results suggest that S. glauca has promising antioxidant activity and could serve as a potential source for natural antioxidants.