RESUMO
This study investigated various biological activities of the ethanolic extract of dried ground leaves of Schefflera leucantha Viguier (Araliaceae). The extract possessed very low cytotoxicity to brine-shrimp with the LC(50) of 4,111.15 microg/ml; the significant antioxidant activity on DPPH with the EC(50) of 71.90 microg/ml; the inhibitory activity on mushroom tyrosinase with the IC(50) of 10.53 mg/ml using the dopachrome microplate-assay. The extract of 5-20 mg/ml range in the agar dilution assay were active against various pathogenic microbial (11 species, 11 strains), with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 5 mg/ml against Clostridium spp.; MIC=10 mg/ml against enteropathogens as Bacteroides spp., Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Lactobacillus spp., Peptococcus spp. and Streptococcus mutans; MIC=10 mg/ml against a pneumonia causing bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and a dermatopathogen as Propionibacterium acnes; MIC=20 mg/ml against dermatopathogens as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Streptococcus spp. and Candida albicans ATCC 90028. TLC fingerprints of the specific extracts from the leaf powder exhibited zones of steroids-terpenes and flavonoids. HPLC fingerprint of the flavonoid extract was performed.
