Determination of total phenolic and flavonoid content, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of a root extract of Arisaema jacquemontii Blume

We evaluated the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of a methanolic extract of the roots of Arisaema jacquemontii. Antioxidant activity was determined in the 1,1-dipheny1-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) and ferric reducing power tests. The extract had significant antioxidant activity in all assays, with values of 64.16 +/- 0.19% in the DPPH and 62.16 +/- 0.17% in the NBT assays, and reduced Fe3+ ferricyanide complex to the ferrous form (Fe2+). Antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentrations were calculated by the broth dilution method. The root extract prevented the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.24-0.41 mg/mL. Antifungal activity, measured as inhibition of mycelium growth, was 28.32-36.50%. The antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the extracts were positively associated with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extract. (C) 2014 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Taibah University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).