DETERMINATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIOXIDANTS, TOTAL FLAVONOIDS, PHENOLIC AND CARBOHYDRATE CONTENT OF LEAF, LATEX, AND FLOWER EXTRACTS OF CASCABELA THEVETIA L.

The aim of this study was the quantitative phytochemical screening of extracts obtained from the leaf, flower, and latex with antibacterial activity and antioxidant activity of Cascabela thevetia (C. thevetia). The Quantitative determinations of total flavonoid, carbohydrate, and polyphenol contents were accomplished by Folin-Ciocalteau, phenol-sulfuric acid, and AlCl₃ methods. The in-vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by the DPPH free radical scavenging activity method. All the samples were screened for antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (S. aureus, S. pneumonia) and gram-negative (E. coli and K. pneumoniae) bacterial strains by using the disc diffusion and well method followed by calculation of minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Phytoconstituents of different samples of C. thevetia in different solvents contain total polyphenol and carbohydrate content were highest at methanol flower extract 80.26 ± 0.86 and 178. 15 ± 3.15 µg GAC and GLU equivalent/mg of dry extracts weight respectively. But flavonoid content was methanol leaf extract 654.53 ± 2.08µg QAR equivalent/mg of dry extracts weight. Among them the lowest IC₅₀ value was 82.84 performed by aqueous flower extracts compared with standard ascorbic acid. In the antibacterial assay, aqueous flower extracts were shown the highest zone of inhibition (ZOI) 18mm and 12.6 mm against E. coli in a well and disc method respectively. The flower and leaves extract of C. thevetia revealed prominent antibacterial phenolic and flavonoid properties against various pathogenic bacterial strains, recommending its significant utilization for the mitigation of diverse microbial diseases like diarrhea, Urinary tract infection (UTI), skin infection, etc.