Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Aqueous Extract of Borassus Flabellifer (L.)

Abstract

To analyse the phytochemicals responsible for free radical scavenging activities and antibacterial activity in aqueous extract of fruit of Borassus flabellifer(L.) Phytochemical analysis of B. flabellifer was performed by standard method as described by Savithramma et al., (2011) and Selvaraj et al., (2014) . Antioxidant assay was carried out using DPPH assay. The antibacterial activity was tested against pathogenic bacteria B. cereus, B. subtilis, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli using the standard method of agar disc diffusion on Muller Hinton agar. A zone of inhibition of 23mm diameter was observed against S. aureus when 30 µl of aqueous fruit extract was introduced. The extract showed zone of inhibition of about 24mm and 28mm in diameter against 20 µl and 30 µl of B. subtilis. To calculate %DPPH radical-scavenging activity, optical density (O.D) of the extract was measured. Phytochemical analysis of aqueous extract of fruit of B. flabellifer (L.) showed the presence of saponins, quinones, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, phenols, steroids, coumarins and betacyanin. B.flabellifer (L.) exhibited good inhibitory effect of medical relevance against facultative anaerobic bacteria owing to the rich phytochemicals. There was no work carried out earlier in the ripened fruit of B. flabellifer(L.) hence; this study was carried out to excavate the abundant therapeutic nature of mother earth.