Antibacterial, Antioxidant Activities and GC-MS Analysis of <i>Dichrostachys cinera</i> (L.) Ethanolic Leaves Extract

Abstract

Traditional medicinal plants are one of the potential sources of antimicrobial drugs and there is a great concern in the use and development of herbal medicine for the treatment of various infections. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial, and antioxidant activities of Dichrostachys cinera ethanolic leaves extract and to determine the components of the crude extract. D. cinera extract was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. The antibacterial, antioxidant activities and active constituents were determined using standard methods. Antibacterial activity of the crude extract findings showed that all bacterial candidates were susceptible where S. aureus represent MIC at 12.5 mg/ml and MBC at 25 mg/ml, E. coli and P. aeruginosa both showed MIC 25 mg/ml and MBC 50 mg/ml. In the free radical scavenging assay of the extract and the standard quercetin at concentrations of 250 μg/ml, 125 μg/ml, 50 μg/ml, 10 μg/ml, and 5 μg/ml. The radical scavenging activity for the extract was about 92%, 89.6%, 86.8%, 82.8% and 37.8% respectively, compared to quercetin which gave 89.7%, 85.8%, 62.1%, 55.5%, and 45% radical scavenging activity. The GC-Ms analysis of the total constituents demonstrated that 1,6-Anhydro-2,4-dideoxy-.beta.-D-ribo-hexo (21.26%) with different peaks, followed by Glycerin (11.56%), 1,2,3-Cyclopentanetriol (10.18%), 8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic acid, (Z,Z,Z)-(6.18%), 1H-Pyrrole, 1-methyl-(6.08%), Phytol (5.91%) and 7-Bromo-6-(2-diethylaminoethoxy)-2,3-dihyd (5.44%) as major components in the extract. Finally, this study provided useful information on the therapeutic potential of D. cinera as an antibacterial agent and recommended to be evaluated against a wide range of Bacterial and fungal strains using different solvents and different parts from the plant.