Evaluation of the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of breadnut (Artocarpus camansi Blanco) leaf extracts

Abstract

Breadnut (Artocarpus camansi) was once acted as a staple food. Exploration of phytochemistry potential of this now underutilized plant was done. Total ethanol, ethyl acetate, and hexane extracts from leaves were examined for phenolic and flavonoid content, an antioxidant capacity that was related to DPPH scavenging activity, antibacterial activities using well diffusion assay, and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the best subjective extracts utilizing tetrazolium assay. There were significant differences between the results of the three crude extracts that were evaluated. The ethanol extracts showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content, which were 47.46 mg GAE/g dried extract and 79.094 mg CE/g dried extract, correspondingly. The ethanol extract exhibited the lowest IC₅₀ values (73.16 mg/L) which related to the ability to scavenge DPPH. Antibacterial activity of each extract tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli revealed that ethanol extract gave the highest inhibition diameter significantly. The MIC values of ethanol extract ranged from 25 to 50 mg/mL. There was a strong correlation between the phenolic and flavonoid content with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. These results revealed that the solvent’s polarity determined the phenolic and flavonoid content significantly, hence affecting antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.