Phytochemical screening and evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Solanum incanum: medicinal plant from Al-Baha Region
¹Al-Baha University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia
²University of Khartoum, Faculty of Science, Department of Botany, Khartoum, Sudan
³Bahri University, Collage of applied and industrial Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Sudan
⁴Assiut University, Assiut, Faculty of Science, Department of Botany, Assiut, Egypt
⁵University of Jeddah, College of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
*Correspondence: houda_maaroufi@yahoo.fr
Abstract:
Solanum incanum is a prominent medicinal plant, used to treat various ailments. The current study sought to assess the phytochemical profile, as well as the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, of the crude methanolic extract and the corresponding chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, and aqueous fractions of the leaves, stem bark, and fruits. Leaf and fruit extracts had the largest levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, and alkaloids referring to stem-bark. Hexadecanoic acid methyl ester is a major phytochemical component revealed in different plant parts, especially in stem-bark with 31.82% level. The 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid, methyl ester is also revealed in all plant parts, especially in leaf with 20.07%. Fruit and leaf ethyl acetate and water fractions showed the highest antioxidant capacity compared to stem-bark fractions. Using the agar disc diffusion method, antimicrobial activity was evaluated in vitro against four different bacterial species and one fungal species (Candida albicana). The ethyl acetate, n-hexane, and chloroform fractions of fruits and leaves showed strong antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms. Aqueous fraction of different plant parts was inactive or partially active against tested microorganisms. The high total content of phenols, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids, especially in leaves and fruits, correlates positively with the highest antimicrobial and antioxidant activities detected in these parts of the plant.
Key words:
free radical scavenging, GC-MS Analysis, phenolic compounds, Solanaceae