Objective: The present study was undertaken to investigate antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of Parmelia sexatilis, Parmelia caperata, Parmelia parletum, Everniastrum cirrhatum, Parmelia pereoridisum, Parmoterma mesotropum, Parmoterma reticulatum, Parmoterma perlatum, and Parmelia squarrosa collected from different locations of Uttarakhand. Methods: Antimicrobial activity was assayed using disc diffusion and two-fold dilution method. Free radical scavenging potential was assayed using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and total phenol content equivalent to gallic acid. Results: All the species of lichen were effective against the Staphylococcus aureus, out of them 7 were effective against Mycobacterium smegmatis and Micrococcus luteus, and 6 against Bacillus cereus. The extracts of Parmelia caperata (8-32 µg/ml MIC), Parmelia parletum (16-32 µg/ml MIC), Parmelia sexatilis (16-32 µg/ml MIC) and Everniastrum cirrhatum (8-32 µg/ml MIC) showed the strongest antibacterial activity. The extract did not show activity against fungi. Most of the lichen species were effective against M. smegmatis and B. cereus. It was also found that the tested extracts exhibited the highest radical scavenging activity with the greatest amount of phenolic content. The highest value of phenols was seen in the ethanol extract of Parmelia caperata at a 162.02 μg of gallic acid equivalent while Everniastrum cirrhatum extracts showed 160 μg of gallic acid equivalent. The scavenging effects of all lichen extract range from 17.44 – 84.33.7%. Extracts from lichen Parmelia sexatilis, and Parmelia caperata showed largest DPPH radical scavenging activity (84.33%) which was similar or greater than the standard antioxidants, ascorbic acid (86.5%), BHA (79.78%) and a-tocopherol (63.99%). Conclusion: Lichens are the potent source of antimicrobial and anti-oxidant metabolites. Further studies are required so that the potent lichen species under the study may serve as leads in the development of potential antibacterial and antioxidant agents
