Ultra-sound assisted extraction, anti-oxidant, cytotoxic and antimicrobial studies of Moringa oleifera flowers

Abstract

The study was undertaken to determine antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial activities of Moringa oleifera flowers. We used three different solvents, hexane (MOF-H), ethyl acetate (MOF-EA) and methanol (MOF-M), to extract the flowers of M. oleifera using the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) approach. Disc diffusion method was used to test for antimicrobial activity. In cytotoxicity research, cell lines derived from breast cancer (MCF-7) and ovarian cancer (ES-2) were used. IC50 values for DPPH, ABTS and Nitric oxide for MOF-EA are 33.54±1.13, 29.86±0.08 and 49.7±1.12μg/mL, respectively, making it the most effective antioxidant in terms of scavenging free radicals. The order of suppression of bacterial growth by the methanolic extract was E. coli>P. aeruginosa>S. aureus, making it the most effective antibacterial agent tested. MOF-H, MOF-EA and MOF-M had fungal inhibition zones of 5.6mm, 7mm and 10.7mm, respectively, compared to DMSO. It was found that MOF-EA had potent antioxidant, cytotoxic and antibacterial capabilities that could be employed as an alternate treatment therapy following clinical trials.