Polskie Towarzystwo Farmaceutyczne/Polish Pharmaceutical Society
Abstract
Ephedra procera belonging to the family Ephedraceae is a poison and medicinal plant. The main aim of the present study was to determine total phenolic content and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic extract from the aerial parts of E. procera collected from a natural habitat in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province, Southwestern Iran. The total phenolic content of the extract by Folin-Ciocalteu method and the antioxidant activity using DPPH assay were determined. The antibacterial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the extract were evaluated against five bacteria, including Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. Total phenolic content in the extract of E. procera was 0.718 mg tannic acid/g dry weight extract. The results indicated that the ethanolic extract of E. procera exhibited radical scavenging activity. In addition, the results of this study confirmed that the ethanolic extract of E. procera exhibited antibacterial activity. In conclusion, the extract of E. procera could be an important source of phenolic components with antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity.Naser Vahed Dehkordi, Mehrdad Ataie Kachouie, Abdollah Ghasemi Pirbalouti, Fatemeh Malekpoor and Mohammad Rabe
