Open AccessIn vitro bioactivity and phytochemical screening of selected spices used in Mauritian foods
Author(s) -
Diksa Devi Tacouri,
Deena RamfulBaboolall,
Daneshwar Puchooa
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asian pacific journal of tropical disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.208
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 2222-1808
DOI - 10.1016/s2222-1808(13)60066-3
Subject(s) - phytochemical , antimicrobial , flavonoid , chemistry , antioxidant , phenols , food science , staphylococcus aureus , agar diffusion test , traditional medicine , antibacterial activity , bacteria , escherichia coli , biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , medicine , gene , genetics
Objective: To investigate the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities along with\udphytochemical screening of organic and aqueous extracts of spices used in Mauritian foods.\udMethods: Antioxidant activity of the crude extracts was evaluated in terms of total antioxidant\udcapacity, total phenol content and total flavonoid content. The antimicrobial activity of the spices\udwas determined by the agar well diffusion method against a gram positive and a gram negative\udbacteria. The qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening were carried out by standard\udbiochemical assays.\udResults: All six spices were found to possess alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, saponins, steroids,\udtannins and phenols. Total phenolic content of the extracts varied between 177 and 1 890 mg GAE/g\udDW while the total flavonoid content varied between 2.8 and 37.6 mg QE/g DW. All six spices were\udfound to possess strong antioxidant properties as well. Highest value was obtained for cinnamon\ud[(24.930依0.198) µmol Fe2+/g DW] whilst turmeric showed the lowest antioxidant activity [(5.980依0.313)\udµmol Fe2+/g DW] (P<0.05). All extracts showed promising activity against Staphylococcus aureus\udand Escherichia coli. The size of the inhibition zones ranged between (11.20依0.23) mm to (26.10依2.09)\udmm (P<0.05) with turmeric and cinnamon being the most effective against Staphylococcus aureus\udwhile garlic was least effective against both E. coli and S. aureus.\udConclusions: The present study reveals the presence of potential antioxidant and antimicrobial\udproperties in the extracts of the spices which could be further exploited