PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF EXTRACTS OF MYRICA ESCULENTA LEAVES IN DIFFERENT SOLVENTS

Myrica esculenta Buch – Ham. ex D. Don has been used worldwide for the treatment of various ailments. The present work is an attempt to relate the presence of phytochemicals in leaves of M. esculenta with its antibacterial potential using seven different solvents for preparation of extracts. The preliminary phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, tannins, vitamin C, fats and oils, terpenoids, and phenols. The total phenolic and flavonoid content in the examined plant extract was found to be 97.66 ± 0.16 mg GA/g and 51.3 ± 0.32 mg RE/g of leaf extract, respectively. The maximum zone of inhibition was recorded by aqueous extract at 22.66 mm against Clostridium perfringens followed by 15.66 mm against Shigella boydii. On comparing the antibacterial effect of various extracts, the methanolic and ethanolic extracts are not significantly different from each other in terms of inhibitory effect against the microbes under study. All the bacterial strains were found to be sensitive to at least two extracts of the plant, but the ethanol and methanol extracts were comparatively more effective than the others. Antioxidant activity was measured by four in vitro antioxidant assays, that is, free radical scavenging ability by using ABTS radical cation (ABTS assay), DPPH radical cation (DPPH assay) ,FRAP assay, and detection of reducing power. The leaf extract of M. esculenta showed significant scavenging and reducing power when compared to the standard synthetic antioxidants.