Nutritional investigation and biological activities of Parthenium hysterophorus

Parthenium hysterophorus is used as a vegetable and in the treatment of various human ailments traditionally in Pakistan. The current study was arranged to investigate the nutritional importance, microbial inhibition and its potency against free radicals. The results revealed that extract possesses macro elements Ca, K, Na, Mg, Fe, Zn, as well as micro elements including Ni, Li, Pb, Co, Mn, Cu, Cr, and Cd. Scavenging of free radicals revealed that methanolic extract of P. hysterophorus (PM) possesses lowest IC50 (2.5 ± 0.05 μg/ml) comparatively to ascorbic acid (3.7 ± 0.03) and n-hexane extract of P. hysterophorus (PH) (5.1 ± 0.07 μg/ml). The extracts also showed maximum antibacterial potential in various concentrations of n-hexane and methanolic extract of P. hysterophorus. The results revealed that P. hysterophorus contain a remarkable fungal inhibition due to the presence of bioactive constituents. Based on this screening various fractions of P. hysterophorus are recommended for future bioassay guided isolation of bioactive constituents.   Key words: Parthenium hysterophorus, nutritional analysis, antimicrobial activity, 1,1-diphenyl 1-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH).