PHYTOCHEMICAL QUANTIFICATION, ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF SWERTIA CHIRAYITA FROM PAKISTAN

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine various phytochemicals from Swertia chirayita and to evaluate antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the extracted phytochemicals. Phytochemical determination i.e., flavonoids, tannins, β-carotene and lycopene, and alkaloids was carried out using different methods. Among the phytochemicals, flavonoids i.e., 67.4 mg/ml were present in higher concentrations, tannins i.e., 38.2 mg/ml in moderate concentrations, while β-carotene i.e., 0.678 mg/50 ml, lycopene i.e., 0.150 mg/50 ml and alkaloids i.e., 0.073 mg were found in trace amounts. Among various extracts, acetone extract had shown antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza, Acinetobacter baumanii and Morganella morganii, while it was inactive against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ethanol extract showed activity only against Haemophilus influenza and all other microorganisms showed resistance against ethanol extract. Other all the tested extracts showed no notable activity against the microorganisms. Flavonoid and tannin showed significant antioxidant activity and among the extracts ethanol and methanol showed higher antioxidant activity, n-hexane, acetone and chloroform showed moderate activity followed by butanol and water showing the lowest activity. Thus, S. chirayita possesses significant antimicrobial and antioxidant properties and can be used to treat pathogenic infections.