Antioxidant, antimicrobial and phytochemical analysis of four species of Selaginella P. Beauv

Abstract

Selaginella is a member of the family Selaginellaceae under the class Lycopodiopsida, which includes spike mosses and smaller clubmosses. They are said to be one of the oldest terrestrial plants with medicinal benefits. Four Selaginella sp. are selected for the present study. S. plana, S. radicata, S. wallichii & S. willdenowii were collected from several districts of Kerala and subjected to antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal analysis and phytochemical screening. Antioxidant analysis was done with DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay. Antifungal analysis against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium chrysogenum and antibacterial analysis using two-gram negative bacteria, E. coli and Vibrio cholera and two-gram positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes was done using agar well diffusion method. The phytochemical screening process comprises both qualitative and quantitative analysis with various solvents. Qualitative analysis of 10 selected phytochemicals were done using standard methods. The quantitative analysis includes estimation of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, glycoside and tannins. The aqueous extract of S. radicata shows the highest percentage (85.21±0.02) of anti-oxidant activity. Chloroform extract of S.plana shows higher antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pyogenes with an inhibition zone of 10±0.01mm. Likewise aqueous extract of S.willdenowii shows antifungal activity against P.chrysogenum with an inhibition zone of 13±0.01mm. Phytocompounds such as steroids and tannins are present moderately, while terpenoids, steroids, quinones, fatty acids, and saponins are rarely present in all solvents. From the findings, it is revealed that Selaginella sp. has moderate antioxidant and antibacterial activity because of the presence of phytochemicals like flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, etc.