IN VITRO PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF GALIUM ELEGANS: PHYTOCHEMICAL, ANTIOXIDANT, BIOFILM INHIBITION AND CYTOTOXICITY POTENTIAL

Ethnomedicinally, Galium elegans is a valuable species used to cure many indigenous ailments in Asia. This study explored the phytochemical, antioxidant, biofilm inhibition and cytotoxic properties of G. elegans extracts. The results showed that the ethanol extract was enriched in phenolic contents (151.12 +/- 0.02 mg GAE/g) and demonstrated potent antioxidant activity (IC 50 57.95 mu g/mL). Biofilm inhibition of E. coli showed that petroleum ether extract was more potent in the inhibition of biofilm (65.75 +/- 0.3%). The nominal cytotoxicity of all the tested crude extracts ranged from 12.02 +/- 0.40 to 32.03 +/- 0.64%, revealed its safe usage as ethnomedicine. In thrombolytic study, only the acetone extract showed a very small anti-fibrinogen potential (3.07 +/- 0.25). In conclusion, G. elegans qualifies preliminary in vitro evaluation as a potential source for antioxidant and biofilm inhibitory compounds. These findings license additional investigation to separate major bio-compounds from the extracts of G. elegans.