摘要
Rumex hastatus D. Don and Cytisus scoparius Linn. are medicinally important plants used in Ayurveda and food, areenriched with remarkable nervine, diuretic, sedative and various other therapeutic properties. In this study Soxhlet extractionproduces higher yield of seed extracts. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine fatty acid composition ofpetroleum ether extracts (PE). The major fatty acids were Linolenic acid 53.53% in R. hastatus and linoleic acid 59.42% in C.scoparius. Palmitic acid was also found in significant amount (16.58% and 19.33%) in R. hastatus and C. scoparius respectively. Thechloroform (RCF, CCF), ethyl acetate (REA, CEA), acetone (RAT, CAT) and methanol (RMT, CMT) extracts of R. hastaus and C.scoparius respectively, were examined for their antioxidant activity using 2,2-di-phenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitrobluetetrazolium (NBT), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 2,2ˈ-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavengingassay and antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus by Agar disc diffusionmethod. All the extracts showed good radical scavenging and antibacterial activities compared to butylated hydroxyltoluene andstreptomycin respectively. However, dominant radical scavenging effect was observed at 100 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL concentrationsof extracts and dominant zone of inhibition was shown by CAT, CMT, RAT and REA extracts. This study exhibited beneficialproperties of these plants as an ingredient (unsaturated fatty acids) for the formulation of various functional foods and a source ofnatural antioxidant and antibacterial agents for drug, design and development.