Amin Maharjan, Ruby Maharjan and Sabita Tamang*

Department of Biotechnology, Kantipur Valley College Kumaripati, Lalitpur, Affiliated to Purbanchal University, Nepal

*Corresponding Author: Sabita Tamang, Department of Biotechnology, Kantipur Valley College Kumaripati, Lalitpur, Affiliated to Purbanchal University, Nepal.

Received: July 24, 2023; Published: August 30, 2023

Abstract

The majority of Nepalese people are dependent on indigenous use of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants play vital role in Nepalese livelihood, health and socio-economic prospects. Very few systematic studies have been done on the medicinal plants of Nepal for their anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activities. Thus, in the present study, we collected and screened the Nepalese medicinal plants from different ecological region of Nepal for the anti-oxidant activity leading to the isolation of active compounds.

Our research is focused on collecting medicinally important plant “Tinospora sinensis” and “Berberis aristata” and conducting their phytochemical analysis, anti-microbial assay and antioxidant assay. The plant samples of T. sinensis and B. aristata were collected from an altitude of 1161m and 1666m respectively from the hills of Dhunibesi-7, Dhading. The crude methanolic extracts of these plant species were prepared by Soxhlet apparatus method and concentrated by rotary vacuum evaporation method. Then these extracts were further subjected to get more concentrated in water bath. Then, the plant extracts were subjected to  preliminary  phytochemical analysis for the detection of alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannin, flavonoid, saponins, sterol, fatty acid and fixed oil, resins, protein and amino acid.

Likewise, the anti-microbial assay of the plant extracts were tested by Agar-disc diffusion method with Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gramnegative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter). Furthermore, the anti-oxidant assay of the plant extracts were conducted by DPPH assay using ascorbic acid as reference. The IC₅₀ were also evaluated and compared. The proximate value analysis of the plant extracts were also carried out.

The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts of the medicinal plants (Tinospora sinensis and Berberis aristata) indicated the presence of major phytochemical compounds, including alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannin, flavonoid, saponins, resins, protein and amino acid which may be responsible for the observed anti-microbial activities and anti-oxidant activities. The observed results further support the view that these Nepalese medicinal plants are promising sources of potential anti-oxidants and medicinal compounds.

All the plant extracts have shown anti-microbial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter). The highest zone of inhibition was shown by Berberis aristata leaves collected against Bacillus subtilis with the diameter being 1.6cm. The leaf extract of Berberis aristata showed better anti-microbial activities than other plant extracts.

The strongest anti-oxidant activity was shown by methanolic extract of stem of Berberis aristata with IC₅₀ value of 82.101μg/ml whereas the lowest anti-oxidant activity was shown by methanolic extract of leaves of Tinospora sinensis with IC₅₀ value of 128.53μg/ml. Among all the plant extracts, the Berberis aristata stem extract and the Tinospora sinensis leaves extract showed higher anti-oxidant activity.

 Keywords: Anti-Microbial; Antioxidant; Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis; Ic₅₀; Zone Of Inhibition

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Citation

Citation: Sabita Tamang., et al. “An Assessment of Phytochemical, Anti-Microbial and Anti-Oxidant Properties of Berberis Aristata and Tinospora Sinensis of Nepal". Acta Scientific Microbiology 6.9 (2023): 93-122.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Sabita Tamang., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.