RESUMO
Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link has become popular as a medicinal mushroom. Here, we explored the mushroom C. militaris for possible bioactive molecules by studying its biological activities. Antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts was tested using DPPH. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the extracts were estimated using broth microdilution method. Observed IC50 value was 0.72 mg/mL compared with standard L-ascorbic acid (IC50= 0.062 mg/mL).The MIC’s of the extracts ranged from 1.25 to 10 mg/mL against S. aureus and 0.625 to 5 mg/mL against E. coli. Additionally, cytotoxicity was also investigated towards cancer cell line HEp-2 using MTT. C. militaris extracts reduced HEp-2 cells viability with IC50 value 20 µg/mL. Bioactive components (phenols, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, β-carotene, and lycopene) were estimated spectrophotometrically. Present study revealed that C. militaris has significant antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer effects which may be the scientific basis of its medicinal use by herbal practitioners.