PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND THE EVALUATION OF THE ANTIOXIDANT, CYTOTOXIC AND ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF ACANTHUS ILICIFOLIUS (FAMILY: ACANTHACEAE

Abstract

Acanthus ilicifolius is an important medicinal plant having widespread application in a variety of disorders. The aim of this study was the phytochemical investigation and evaluation of the anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and cyto-toxic activities of Acanthus ilicifolius. The stem of A. ilicifolius was separated from the other plant parts and sun dried and extracted using methanol at room temperature. Phytochemical screening of the stem of A. ilicifolius ensured the presence of steroids, alkaloid, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins and reducing sugar in the crude methanol extract. The anti-oxidant activity was measured by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. In the quantitative assay, the extracts of A. ilicifolius stem displayed significant free radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 5.1 µg/ml) which is comparable to that of ascorbic acid (IC50 = 4.6 µg/ml), a well-known standard antioxidant. The anti-microbial activity of different fractions was measured by disc diffusion method using Kanamycin as a standard. The crude methanol extract did not reveal any significant anti-microbial activity. Evaluation of cyto-toxic activity was done using the brine-shrimp lethality bio-assay. The crude extract was found to show strong lethality against the brine shrimp nauplii. These results tend to suggest its possible antitumer, antibacterial or pesticidal activities.