Antioxidant and Antibacterial Properties of Manilkara zapota (L.) Royen Flower

Abstract

The present study was aimed at evaluating the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of Manilkara zapota flower. The antioxidant property of the methanol and aqueous extract was determined by DPPH radical scavenging assay. The extracts showed excellent antioxidant activity with the IC50 values 1.97 g/ml and 4.22 g/mlfor methanol and aqueous extract respectively. The antimicrobial property of the flower was studied by agar well diffusion method against few pathogenic organisms. Both the extracts exhibited significant antibacterial activity against all the four tested bacterial strains with zones of inhibition ranging from 26 mm to 29 mm. A qualitative analysis for the identification of the phytochemicals revealed the presence of phenols, tannins, quinones, alkaloids, flavones and saponins in the extracts which might have acted synergistically leading to its strong antioxidant and antibacterial efficiency. Hence, the methanol and aqueous flower extracts of Manilkara zapota can be considered as an interesting and economic source of natural antioxidant and antibacterial agent for utilization in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries.