Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities in flowers of Gentiana kurroo Royle, a critically endangered plant from Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India

The motive of present study was to quantify various phytochemicals and evaluate antioxidant and antibacterial activities of flower extract of Gentiana kurroo Royle. The dried fine powder of G. kurroo flowers was extracted with methanol. Several phytochemicals were quantified using this methanolic extract. Biochemical assays for total antioxidant activity, diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, ferric reducing power (FRAP), metal ion chelation activity and total reducing activity were performed to quantify the antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity was determined by MTT cytotoxicity assay. Methanolic extract of flower was found enriched with several bioactive compounds like phenols, flavonoids, flavonols, tannins, orthodihydroxy phenols, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Flowers had detected with impressive antioxidant activities. DPPH activity and total reducing activity were even at par with several standard antioxidant compounds. The antibacterial activities were positively correlated with antioxidant capacity.