Comparative Study of In vitro Antioxidant, Antibacterial and Cytotoxic Activity of Two Bangladeshi Medicinal Plants- Luffa cylindrica L. and Luffa acutangula

Luffa cylindrica L. (LUCY) and Luffa acutangula (LUAC ) are popular & consumed as vegetables and foods and in folklore medicine to treat various ailments in Bangladesh. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of the n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of leaves of LUCY & LUAC. Antioxidant and antibacterial activities were evaluated using the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and disc diffusion method, respectively. The plants were also assessed for cytotoxic activity by brine shrimp lethality assay. Antioxidant activity of different concentrations of plant extracts were found to increase in a concentration dependent manner. The most prominent activity was found with ethyl acetate extract of LUCY and n-hexane extract of LUAC with an IC50 value of 50.32 & 50.95 μg/mL, respectively. All extracts/fractions showed low to moderate levels of anti-bacterial activity against most of the tested strains (zone of inhibition = 5–13 mm). All extracts/fractions displayed considerable general toxicity towards brine shrimps. The LC50 values of the extracts/fractions were of 15.92 to 33.69 μg/mL compared to vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.91 μg/mL). This is the first report for cytotoxic activity of LUCY and antibacterial activity of LUAC leaves extracts. On the basis of results obtained, it is suggested that both LUCY and LUAC leaves extracts may be a potential source of natural antioxidants, antimicrobial compounds and anticancer agents to be used in the treatment of various oxidative disorders, infectious diseases caused by resistant microorganisms and cancer, respectively.