Antioxidant and antibacterial studies on different extracts of Ornithogalum cuspidatum Bertol from Iran

Ornithogalum cuspidatum is an Iranian species of the genus Ornithogalum L. (family: Liliaceae). The species of Ornithogalum are used widely in Iranian traditional medicine for treatment of inflammatory and respiratory disease. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts of O. cuspidatum leaves and to determine their relationship with the phenolic composition. The antioxidant activities of different extracts of O. cuspidatum were evaluated with DPPH radical-scavenging activity. The amounts of total phenolics were also determined spectrophotometerically. Antimicrobial activities of different extracts were examined against five Gram-positive and four Gram-negative bacteria. Methanol extract of O. cuspidatum showed the strongest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 35.7 μg/ml) and the highest total phenolic content (94.1 mg GA/g extract). nhexane, methanol and ethyl acetate extracts demonstrated antibacterial effect against Bacillus cereus strain in concentration of 7.5 mg/ml.