Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Phytochemical Analysis of Cichorium intybus Seeds Extract and Various Organic Fractions

This study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant effectiveness of methanolic extract and different fractions (n-butanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and n-hexane) of C.intybus seeds. The antimicrobial activity was determined by the disc diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against a panel of microorganisms (four bacterial strains, i.e. P. multocida, E. coli, B. subtilis and S. aureus and three fungal strains, i.e A. flavus, A. niger and R. solani). The results indicated that seeds extract and fractions of C. intybus showed moderate activity as antibacterial agent. While Antifungal activity of C. intybus seeds extract/fractions was very low against A. flavus and A. niger while mild against R. solani. The C.intybus seeds extract/fractions contained appreciable levels of total phenolic contents (50.8-285 GAE mg/100g of Dry plant matter) and total flavonoid contents (43.3-150 CE mg/100g of Dry plant matter). The C. intybus seed extract/fractions also exhibited good DPPH radical scavenging activity, with IC50 ranging from 21.28-72.14 µg/mL. Of the C .intybus seeds solvent extract/fractions tested, 100% methanolic extract and ethylacetate fraction exhibited the maximum antioxidant activity. The results of the present investigation demonstrated significant (p< 0.01) variations in the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of C. intybus seeds solvent extract/fractions.