Evaluation of the Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activity of Mimosa rubicaulis and Reinwardtia indica

Many plants have the property of wound healing, but most of the people are using costly allopathic medicine for the wound. This might be due to lack of awareness about the traditional uses and lack of scientific study of ethnomedicinal plants. So, this study aimed to carry out the antibacterial and antioxidant activity of two medicinal plants which are used traditionally for wound healing activity, i.e.,Mimosa rubicaulis and Reinwardtia indica. Different parts of Mimosa rubicaulis (root, stem, and leaves) and Reinwardtia indica (flower and leaves) were used for the study. Extractions were done by maceration using ethanol as solvent. Antibacterial activity was carried out by the well diffusion method, and antioxidant activities were screened by DPPH radical scavenging and NO scavenging assays. Extract of M. rubicaulis has shown a weak zone of inhibition towards S. aureus and P. vulgaris whereas R. indica has shown no zone of inhibition towards selected bacterial strains. Leaf, root, and stem extracts of M. rubicaulis have shown potent antioxidant activity, i.e., IC(50) value of 9.8 µg/ml, 10.19 µg/ml, and, 13.64 µg/ml, respectively. Similarly, leaf extract of R. indica exhibited antioxidant activity with an IC(50) value of 19.73 μg/ml. The percentage inhibition of NO radicals of root and stem of M. rubicaulis and leaves of R. indica was 31%, 21%, and 22%, respectively. Out of these two plant species, M. rubicaulis had shown antibacterial activity towards selected microorganism, but antioxidant activity was shown by both plant species. These properties on above mentioned two plant species might help for the development of a marketed formulation for antibacterial and wound-healing agent since wound healing is promoted by antibacterial and antioxidant activities.