Abstract

Aim: The goal of the current study was to assess the antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of
the leaf extracts of Trachyspermum ammi using the agar well diffusion method and phenol
estimation technique against some plant pathogens. We have observed from the literature
review that very little information is available on the antimicrobial properties of leaf ex-
tracts of Trachyspermum ammi. Therefore, this is the first complete study to report on the
antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of the leaf extracts of Trachyspermum ammi against
common plant pathogens.
Material and methods: A total of three extracts using different solvents (ethyl acetate,
ethanol, and 50% aqueous ethanol) are prepared using the soxhlet apparatus and the mace-
ration technique. The antimicrobial activity of the leaf extracts was studied against common
plant pathogens like Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis (NCIM 2920), Staphylo-
coccus aureus (NCIM-5345), Escherichia coli (NCIM 5346) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The fungal species used in the present study were Fusarium oxysporum (NCIM 1008),
Aspergillus flavus (NCIM 1316), Penicillium citrinum (NCIM 1435), and Rhizopus stolo-
nifera (NCIM 1139). The antioxidant activity was assessed by the Folin-Ciocalteau method
using the standard gallic acid solution as a reference.
Results: It was found that the ethyl acetate leaf extract prepared using soxhlet appara-
tus exhibited a wide range of antimicrobial activity against all groups of bacteria with the
highest inhibition zone produced against Escherichia coli (NCIM 5346) and Pseudomo-
nas aeruginosa i.e, 35mm and 30mm respectively. In the case of fungus, both ethanol and
ethyl acetate extracts show good percentages of inhibition for Fusarium oxysporum (NCIM
1008) and Penicillium citrinum (NCIM 1435) i.e, 0.77%, 0.77%, and 0.40%,0.42% respec-
tively, whereas exhibited no and partial inhibition for Rhizopus stolonifera (NCIM 1139)
and Aspergillus flavus (NCIM 1316) respectively. The leaf extracts show a significant an-
tioxidant activity of 15.52mg/g of GAE.
Conclusion: In the current investigation, the results illustrate that the leaf extracts of Tra-
chyspermum ammi exhibit a wide range of antimicrobial and antioxidant activity and can
potentially be used as a natural biopreservative

Keywords

Trachyspermum ammi (ajwain), antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, total phenolic content, biopreservative