Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Various Medicinal Plants Used in Oriental Medicine

The antibacterial activities of the ethanol extracts of 35 medicinal plants were screened against Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus by following standard antimicrobial susceptibility testing procedures. The ethanol extracts of Coptis chinensis and Glycyrrhiza uralensis showed antibacterial activity against all three test bacterial species. The screened extracts were also tested for their antioxidant activities using the DPPH free radical scavenging activity assay, and for their cytotoxic and antioxidant activity in vitro using an assessment of cell viability on mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. The ethanol extracts of both C. chinensis and G. uralensis showed good radical scavenging antioxidant properties and attenuated the rate of cell death caused by oxidative damage. Our results showed that C. chinensis and G. uralensis are promising sources of natural products with good antibacterial and antioxidant activities.

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