Evaluation of the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Ruellia simplex extract

Abstract

The increasing fascination in potent nutraceuticals has prompted scientists and breeders to investigate the possibility of decorative plants as surrogate reservoirs of valuable biological compounds. Ornamental plants, such as flowers, leaves, and fruits, are not only architecturally pleasing and employed for landscaping, but also provide a diverse array of phytochemicals that can be harnessed for several practical uses. Ruellia simplex L, sometimes referred to as the Mexican petunia plant, is found to southern India. In current study, an evaluation was conducted to examine the antibacterial effectiveness of crude methanolic extracts of R. simplex L. leaves by assessing their antioxidant activities. A maceration process was used to extract the dried leaves of R. simplex L. The phytochemical analysis detected the existence of flavonoids, triterpenoids, carbohydrates, alkaloids, and phenolic bioactive substances. These findings were further corroborated by FTIR spectroscopy, which revealed the specific functional groups present in the characteristic phenols and flavonoids. An antioxidant investigation conducted in vitro shown that the crude methanolic extracts exhibited significant free radical scavenging activity, with an IC50 value of 2.08 µg/mL. This antibacterial investigation shown significant efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC-96; strain-6571), Klebsiella pneumoniae (MTCC-39; strain-418), and Escherichia coli (MTCC 119; strain-9483). Significantly, there have been no previous reports of such a study for R.simplex. Hence, it might be regarded as a treatment for certain pathological conditions.