Antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic effects of methanolic extracts of leaves and stems of Glycosmis pentaphylla (Retz.).

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic effects of the methanolic extracts of Glycosmis pentaphylla stems and leaves. Efforts have been given to identify the activities by using highest grade solvent for preparing the extracts. A survey of the antioxidant effect was performed using DPPH method. The methanolic extract of Glycosmis pentaphylla stems showed moderate antioxidant property (103.35 μg/ml) where the leaves showed very little (337.62 μg/ml). This antioxidant activity may be due to some polyphenolic compounds identified from this plant. Both the extracts showed moderate antimicrobial activity with the highest zone of inhibition for E. coli (23.67±0.76 mm) and Salmonella paratyphi (15.33±0.76 mm) among the tested micro-organisms. This inhibition may legit the traditional implication of the stems of G. pentaphylla as toothbrush. The cytotoxic activity of stems extract of G. pentaphylla was found to be highly potent (5.53 μg/ml, 95% CI, 7.27-4.21) where as the leaves also showed significant activity (47.34 μg/ml, 95% CI, 50.77- 44.15). Several antitumor alkaloids were identified from this plant in the laboratory. The study results also indicate that Glycosmis pentaphylla is a good source of medicinally important compounds.