EVALUATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF FRUIT OF Diospyros malabrica (KOSTEL).

Abstract

The current study encompassed the extraction of phytochemicals from the fruit of a well-known traditional medicinal tree, viz. Diospyros malabarica with different solvents and evaluation of their in-vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities using standard methods and standard drugs. Preliminary phytochemical investigation demonstrated the presence of some
fascinating secondary metabolites like flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins and phenolic compounds. Also, the solvent extracts exhibited promising antimicrobial activity (60-80 mm, inhibition zone) against Staphylococcus saprophyticus, S. aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillus parasiticus and Rhizopus oryzae. The fruit extract showed scavenging
antioxidant potential (>80%), total antioxidant content (>0.4) and total phenolic contents (>0.18 mg of gallic acid equivalents). This indicated that their antioxidant potential is even better than those of many standard antioxidants i.e. α-tochopherol, vitamin E and BHT. Based on the results, it was therefore proposed that the organic extracts of D. malabarica fruit should be propagated as modern and least harmful antimicrobial drug and antioxidant to combat the infectious diseases.