The present investigation is aimed to carry out the
in vitro lipid peroxidation and antimicrobial activities of the methanol extract of
Mucuna pruriens
(MEMP) (Family: Fabaceae) seeds. Lipid peroxidation was monitored by the change in optical density of the prepared concentrations (10-320 μg/ml) and the % inhibition was calculated. Ascorbate/FeSO
4-induced peroxidation was inhibited by standard antioxidants such as quercetin, L-ascorbic acid and MEMP. Moreover, the % inhibition of the methanol extract increased with increase in concentration. IC
50 value for the MEMP, L-ascorbic acid and quercetin for lipid peroxidation was found to be 217.25 μg/ml, 41 μg/ml and 19.75 μg/ml respectively. The antimicrobial activity of MEMP was determined by disc diffusion method with various Gram positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. MEMP showed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against all the tested microorganisms except
Staphylococcus aureus
ML 152 and
Vibrae cholera
14035. The results obtained in the present study indicate that MEMP can be a potential source of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent.
