Antioxidant and Anti Bacillus cereus Activities of Selected Plant Extracts

Water and ethanol extracts of 19 edible plants were evaluated for their antioxidants and anti-Bacillus cereus activities using DPPH radical scavenging activity and agar diffusion method, respectively. The total phenolic compound were determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteau procedure and ranged in the dried water extracts from 5 to 250 mg/g and in the dried ethanol extracts from 5 to 80 mg/g. Water extracts of sumac, whild mint, cumin contained the highest phenolic compounds. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts expressed as IC50 ranged from 0.095 to 29.9 mg/ml and from 0.12 to 44 mg/ml for water and ethanol extracts. Water extracts of parsley, fenugreek, wild mint, purslane, cumin, rossle and black cumin and ethanol extracts of parsley, rossle, ghar, dwarf chicory, sumac garden rocket and fennel showed high antioxidant activity (0.095 - 1.5 mg/ml). Water and ethanol extracts of rossle, sumac, ghar and parsley had the highest anti-Bacillus cereus activity. Therefore, they could be used as antioxidant and antibacterial agents. The antioxidant and the antibacterial activities of water and ethanol extracts correlated significantly and positively with total phenolic compounds