In vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant potential of Dodonaea viscosa Plant extracts against selected pathogenic isolates

Medicinal plants can be used in the development of new drugs in addition to serving as an indigenous source of new compounds with beneficial effects. The medicinal plants and their parts constitute an important wealth. They play a significant role in healthcare services. The main objective of the study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity, antioxidant activity and phytochemical analysis of Dodonaea viscosa Jacq. Extraction was carried out by cold percolation method. The antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of plant extracts was determined by agar well diffusion and resazurin dye method against various pathogenic isolates. Antioxidant activity of most effective extract was measured by DPPH and hydrogen peroxide method. Among all the extracts, acetone extract of D. viscosa showed highest activity against B. cereus (24.12±0.94 mm at 40 μl) followed by S. aureus (18.78±0.59 mm) and S. flexneri (17.50±0.50 mm). The lowest concentration required to inhibit the growth of B. cereus was 0.1562 mg/100μl. Phytochemical analysis of most effective acetone extract of D. viscosa revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides and saponins. D. viscosa acetone extract showed highest DPPH scavenging activity i.e. 80.81±0.24% at a concentration of 300 μg/ml of plant extract. The results indicated that the crude extracts of D. viscosa have a effective antimicrobial potential that provide a source for development of new drug which may be used for the medicinal purposes. Further studies are required to purify the responsible biochemical constituents of important plant materials and also to characterize so as to explore their potential fully.