Abstract

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, IN-VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF BEGONIA PECTA

Gurung Roshani*, Agrawal Rohit, Thapa Yogendra, Khanal Samiksha and Gautam Sunita

ABSTRACT

Although many plants are used as medicine traditionally they are going to be extinct day by day due to lack of knowledge and documentation. Among various plants Begonia pectais one of them. The main aim of this study was to carry out phytochemical screening and evaluate in-vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activity of whole plant extract of B. pecta. The whole plant of B. pecta was extracted with methanol using double maceration process. The antioxidant activity of extract of different concentrations was determined using DPPH and NO scavenging method taking ascorbic acid as standard. The antibacterial activity was determined against 3 bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli) using well diffusion method. Phytochemical screening of the extract revealed the presence of flavonoid, phenol, tannins, and carbohydrates. The extract exhibited a dose dependent DPPH and NO radical scavenging activity comparable to that of standard. As compared to NO radical the extract showed better DPPH radical scavenging activity. At 100 μg/ml concentration, extract showed 78.77  0.51% and 74.95  0.44% inhibition of DPPH radical and NO radical respectively. Extract also showed moderate antibacterial activity at 3mg/ml concentration with abetter zone of inhibition (14 mm) for E. coli. This study showed that the plant possesses good antioxidant and antibacterial property which could be contributed to the presence of tannins, flavonoids and phenols. This implies future implications of the plant in drug development for treatment of various ailments including oxidative disorders and infections.

Keywords: DPPH scavenging assay, NO scavenging assay, Antioxidant activity, Antibacterial activity, Begonia pecta.