Antioxidative and Antimicrobial Activity of Methanol and Chloroform Extracts of Gmelina Arborea Roxb

Gmelina arborea is commonly known as Gamhar, a fast growing tree throughout India. In Ayurveda it has been observed that root bark and fruits are useful in treatment of leprosy, vaginal discharge and also anthelmenthic. Five principal bioactive compounds such as Alkaloids, Saponins, Steroids, Flavonoids and Glycosides were investigated in Methanol and Chloroform extracts of Gmelina arborea. Three active compounds: alkaloids saponins and steroids are positive for both the extracts. Flavonoids and Glycosides are detected only in Methanol extract and are absent in Chloroform extract. The antimicrobial and antioxidative activities of Methanol and Chloroform extracts of Gmeline arborea were investigated. The extracts (ME and CE) are subjected to screening for their possible antioxidative activities by using 2, 2 diphenyl picryl - 1- hydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene bleaching methods. Methanol and Chloroform extracts were found to be better when compared to synthetic antioxidant Butylated Hydroxyl Toluene (BHT) in their antioxidant activity with Ic 50 value of 15.4 and 18.6 μg/ml respectively. Methanol extract seemed to inhibit the oxidation of linoleic acid with an 87% and chloroform extract with 30%. The results revealed that the Methanol extracts of G. arborea has more antioxidative activity due to the presence of Flavonoids and Saponins. Both ME and CE have shown great antibacterial activity against five test microorganisms.