Anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and cytotoxicity of aqueous and organic extracts of Ricinus communis

The present study aimed to examine anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and cytotoxicity in leaf extract of Ricinus communis extract (in different solvent). The leaf powder of R. communis was extracted using different solvents. The anti-bacterial activity of the extracts was determined by agar well and disc diffusion method. The extracts were also subjected to phytochemical analysis. The anti-oxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), alkaline DMSO, deoxyribose and nitric oxide scavenging assay. The cytotoxicity of the extracts was estimated using MTT cell proliferation assay. The photochemical qualitative analysis of methanollic plant extracts revealed the presence of alkaloid, flavonoid, tannins, glycoside, reducing sugar, anthraquinones and saponins. The methanollic extract showed zone of inhibition of 15 mm each against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermis and Saccharomyces cereviceae by using well diffusion method, whereas S. cereviceae gave 12 mm zone of inhibition by disc diffusion at a concentration of 40 mg/mL. The anti-oxidant activity by different methods gave IC50 value of 102.1 ± 4.16, 30.27 ± 3.85 and 382.6 ± 3.30 µg/mL in aqueous, benzene and ethyl acetate extract respectively by using DPPH method. The acetone extract gave IC50 value of 357.1 ± 4.96 µg/mL by nitric oxide method. The aqueous and acetone extract gave IC50 value of 860.1 ± 7.73 and 626.7 ± 2.25 µg/mL, respectively by deoxyribose method. The chloroform and ethyl acetate extract showed cytotoxicity in A549 cell line having IC50 value of 687 ± 3.92 and 957 ± 4.46 µg/mL respectively by MTT cell proliferation assay whereas, aqueous extract in Jurkat cell line gave IC50 value of 918 ± 2.05 µg/mL. This study demonstrates that the R. communis extracts are potential source for anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer agent. Further study is needed to identify the specific bioactive compounds, their mode of action and their non-toxic nature in in vivo condition. Key words: Ricinus communis, (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-di-phenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH).