PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILING AND POTENT ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF CYMBOPOGAN CITRATUS EXTRACT, AS A NATURAL ANTIOXIDANT AGENT

Abstract

The practice of utilizing medicinal plants has been widespread since ancient times due to the ability of plants to produce chemical compounds. Five medicinal plants i.e., Cymbopogan citratus, Piper longum, Althaea officinalis, Malva and Vasaka were studied for observing their phytochemical potential and many other antibacterial activities. Phytochemical analysis of the methanol and ethyl acetate plant extracts showed the presence of different useful bioactive compounds such as steroids, carbohydrates, reducing sugars in these plants. Antibacterial activity against gram positive (Bacillus KC881030) and gram negative (E. coli GM2163) strains was determined. Among all extracts, lemon grass (Cymbopogan citratus) gave maximum inhibition zone of 17mm. Minimum inhibitory concentration of Cymbopogan citratus methanol extract was 31.25mg/ml. DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl 1-1 picrylhydrazyl) test was performed for checking the antioxidant potential that gave the best activity of 68.3% in case of lemon grass extract. Antimitotic studies revealed that lemon grass extract possesses antimitotic activity (53%). Due to all of these properties of lemon grass, thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed to identify the bioactive compounds. Out of the 7 spots obtained from selected plant extract in methanol, only 1 spot exhibiting the best zone size (14mm) was analyzed for Gas chromatography and mass spectrophotometry (GCMS) analysis. GCMS revealed the presence of Citral as a bioactive component in selected plant extract. In conclusion, Cymbopogan citratus showed the best antibacterial, antioxidative and antimitotic potential. Further research should analyze phytochemical components for effective use of herbs in pharmaceutical industry.