Investigation on cytotoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial and volatile profile of Wrightia tinctoria (Roxb.) R. Br. flower used in Indian medicine

ObjectiveTo investigate the total phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of Wrightia tinctoria flower extract.MethodsTotal phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids content, DPPH scavenging activity, the reducing power activity, phosphomolybednum activity, metal chelating activity, Hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging activity of crude extract, Cytotoxicity activity, GC-MS analysis and Antibacterial screening were evaluated.ResultsTotal phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids in the extract was found to be 55.29±0.45 mg GAE, 370.53±1.213 mg QE and 1.825±0.321 mg/g respectively, where the reducing power, phosphomolybednum activity and metal chelating activity were increasing with increasing concentration of the flower extract. The antioxidant activity (IC50) of the flower extract was said to be 43.16μg/mL by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl method and 124.07 mg AAE/100g of plant extract by phosphomolybednum method. The antibacterial studies of the ethanolic flower extract tested at different concentration of extracts, where 250mg/mL concentration of extract showed good inhibitory activity against all the test pathogens compared with standard antibiotics like streptomycin and penicillin. The cytotoxic activity of flower extract was evaluated by brine shrimp lethality bioassay method and the LC50 value found to be 3.544μg/mL.ConclusionsThe presence of major bioactive compound, hexadecanoic acid justifies the use of the whole plant for various ailments by traditional practitioners. Further studies are needed to explore the potential phenolics, flavonoid compounds from W. tinctoria for application in drug delivery, nutritional or pharmaceutical fields.