Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of Epimedium pinnatum

Summary Epimedium pinnatum (Berberidaceae family) is used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of E. pinnatum extracts (ethanol, methanol and aqueous extracts). Total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) of each extract were assessed by spectrophotometric methods. It was exhibited that methanol extract had better antimicrobial activity than those of ethanolic extract or aqueous extract. The TPC and TFC of E. pinnatum extracts was higher in methanol extract (149 and 36.6 mg/g) than that of ethanolic extract (137.2 and 19.5 mg/g) and aqueous extract (86.2 and 8.4 mg/g). The methanol extract had lower IC50 value (200 µg/ml) than ethanolic (250 µg/ml) and aqueous extract (400 µg/ml). There was a positive correlation between TPC, TFC in E. pinnatum extract and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity