SCREENING FOR ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF SECONDARY METABOLITES OBTAINED FROM ACTINOMYCETES

Actinomycetes have been intensively studied in several underexplored environments and extreme habitats in various parts of the world (including India) in the last few years. Yet, few reports were available regarding the isolation of actinomycetes from terrestrial medicinal plants. Therefore, an attempt has been made to isolate the actinomycetes from this lesser explored region in order to find novel species. Totally 13 actinomycetes strains were isolated from soil samples of different culture based on the gram staining and colony morphology. All the isolates were found to be positive in gram staining; biochemical screening had different morphological structures. The isolates were screened for their inhibitory activity against the human pathogenic bacteria. Primary screening was used to select the antibacterial isolates and determine the range of microorganisms that were sensitive to the antibiotics. Similarly secondary screening method was crucial to select the isolates for further studies. The qualitative approach is used to determine the range of the microorganisms that are sensitive to a potential antibiotic. The quantitative approach provides information about the yield of antibiotic that can be expected when the organism is grown in ISP2 broth. All the experimental measurements were carried out in triplicates and were expressed as an average of three analyses. Isolates I5, MS1005Fand MS1005E were highly active, while MS100E showed less activity against pathogenic bacterial strains. Isolate I5 exhibited the highest activity against MS1005F.