ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF BREYNIA DISTICHA AND VERNONIA ELAEAGNIFOLIA

The present study was aimed to investigate the phytochemistry and to determine the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract of the two plants namely, Breyniadistichaand Vernoniaelaeagnifolia. Antimicrobial activity was determined using disk diffusion method whereas antioxidant activity was carried out using DPPH assay. Antimicrobial activity was absent in B. disticha whereas V. elaeagnifolia possessed antibacterial activity against P. mirabilis (9.0±0.2 mm) and antifungal activity against S. cerevisae(8.0±0.1 mm). Both plants possessed significant antioxidant activities (more than 90% scavenging) comparable to the standard drug BHT. The study proves that both plants have high medicinal value.