Antibacterial and Antioxidant Potential of Arisaema jacquemontii Blume from Manali, Himachal Pradesh

Manali is not only a famous tourist place but also a treasure of many traditional medicines. The antibacterial and antioxidant potential of leaves, tubers and fruit of Arisaema jacquemonti Blume were evaluated in different extracts viz. acetone, chloroform, distilled water and methanol. The samples were collected from the area of Manali. Using Agar-well diffusion method and different concentrations of extracts (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%), the antibacterial activity was tested against three Gram-negative bacteria (Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Shigella dysenteriae) and two Gram-positive bacteria (Lysteria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus). Streptomycin (5 μg/ml) was taken as a standard antibiotic. Percent inhibition of bacterial growth was calculated for each tested extract. The tuber acetone, fruit methanol and leaf methanol extract were found to be more effective against some the tested bacteria than the standard antibiotic used. The chloroform and distilled water extract showed negligible results. IC50 value was calculated after 2, 2 Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyal (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay to investigate the antioxidant potential at different concentrations (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 μg/ml). Ascorbic acid at similar concentrations was taken as standard (IC50 = 31.33μg/ml). The methanolleaf extract was found to exhibit highest antioxidant potential with IC50 value of 47.89μg/ml followed by methanol-tuber, waterfruit, acetone-fruit and methanol-fruit, acetone-tuber, acetone-leaf and water-leaf extracts. The results can be taken as a base for further analysis and isolation of active compounds of this plant.