A comparative study of the phytochemical, antibacterial and scavenging effects of methanolic leaves extract of Blumea lacera (Burm. F.) DC and Blumea aurita (Linn F.) DC

Objective: The comparative study of phytochemical, antibacterial and antioxidant properties of Blumea lacera and Blumea aurita family (Asteraceae).Methods: The fresh leaves were collected, washed, dried and grounded. It was extracted with 95% ethanol using cold maceration.Results: The phytochemical screening of the ethanol extracts of? Blumea lacera and Blumea aurita revealed the presence of tannins, steroids, phenols, glycoside, alkaloids and flavonoids while saponnins were present in B. aurita but absent in B. lacera, carbohydrate was present in B. lacera but absent in B. aurita. The preliminary antimicrobial screening of the two extracts against three pathogens; Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus revealed the zone of inhibition of S. lacera leaf extracts ranging between (9.00 ± 00 ? 21.00 ± 00 mm) with highest zone showed on E. coli at 60 ?g/disc while the leaves of B. aurita revealed (9.00 ± 00 ? 22.00±00 mm) with the highest zone observed on E. coli at 60 ?g/disc. The antioxidant activity of the B. lacera and B. aurita extracts were low compared to the standard Vitamin C; the scavenging effect of B. lacera is greater than that of B. aurita the IC50 was shown in increasing order, 0.12 < 0.82 < 0.86 for Vitamin C, B. lacera and B. aurita respectively.Conclusions: The preliminary study justified the ethno-medicinal as well as pharmaceutical potentials of the plant extracts family Asteraceae.