Bioactive Potential of Pogostemon benghalensis (Burm.f.) Kuntze: Antibacterial, Antioxidant, and Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitory Activities

This research is focused on assessing the antibacterial properties of Pogostemon benghalensis stem bark and inflorescence extracts, as well as their inhibitory effects on xanthine oxidase, antioxidant potential, overall phenolic content, and flavonoid concentration. The cold maceration technique was used to obtain extracts using water, methanol, and ethyl acetate solvents. The disk diffusion method demonstrated the significant antibacterial efficacy of the methanol stem bark extract against Staphylococcus epidermidis, with a zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 13 mm, and the inflorescence methanol extract against Klebsiella pneumonia (ZOI: 12.9 mm). Moreover, the methanol stem bark extract exhibited the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) at 1.56 mg/mL and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 0.78 mg/mL against S. epidermidis. The ethyl acetate inflorescence extract displayed noteworthy xanthine oxidase inhibition (IC50: 29.1 µg/mL) comparable to allopurinol (IC50: 12.7 µg/mL). Furthermore, the methanol stem bark extract exhibited a remarkable DPPH free radical inhibitory effect, showing an IC50 value of 42.5 µg/mL. The total polyphenol content ranged from 29.9 μg to 161.3 µg GAE per mg of dried extract weight in the methanol inflorescence extract, while the total flavonoid content ranged from 38.4 μg to 96.8 μg QE per mg of dried extract weight within the water-derived extract. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potent antibacterial properties, xanthine oxidase inhibition, and antioxidant activity of P. benghalensis extracts.