EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF MORINGA OLEIFERA L. LEAVES

Abstract

Natural plants have been receiving wide attention as source of biological active substances. In the present study, Moringa oleifera L. leaves are tested for their in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of Moringa leaves were tested for scavenging of DPPH, Superoxide and FRAP radicals. Antimicrobial activity of the leaf extracts was evaluated against five bacterial strains by using cylinder plate assay. Concentration dependent antioxidant activity was observed by all the tested extracts, The extracts also induced significant zone of inhibition at 500µg/ml against tested bacterial strains. The highest zone of inhibition was shown by ethanolic extract against Klebsiella pneumonia at 500µg/ml dose.