Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of Some Indigenous Plants of Nepal

Seven indigenous medicinal plants, Mallotus philippensis, Pogostemon cablin, Colebrookea oppositifolia, Mussaenda macrophylla, Celosia argentea, Pilea symmeria and Thysanolaena maxima, have been investigated for their antimicrobial activity and antioxidant activity. The ethanol extract of these medicinal plants were subjected to evaluate their antibacterial properties and their antioxidant potential. The antibacterial screening against four bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Escherichia coli), was done by disc diffusion method and Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) was observed. The ZOI obtained ranges from 7 to 16 mm. The Antioxidant activity of the extract was tested using scavenging activity of DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2Picrylhydrazyl) radical method. Ascorbic acid was taken as standard. IC50 of four extracts were obtained < 100 μg/ml whereas three had > 100 μg/ml. The overall result shows that almost all the plant extracts have interesting antibacterial activity and among seven, four had remarkable radical scavenging potential to be used as an antioxidant.