Antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Combretum nioroense Aubrév. ex Keay (Combretaceae)

In this study, the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of acetone extract, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and n-hexane fractions of acetone extract from leaves of Combretum nioroense Aubrév. ex Keay were investigated. The total phenolics and total flavonoids contents in the fractions and acetone extract were determined by spectrophotometric methods using Folin-Ciocalteu and AlCl3, respectively. Two methods were adopted to assess the antioxidant activities: the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and the radical scavenging activity of 2, 2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6-sulfonate) radical cation (ABTS). The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of the extract and fractions against pathogenic bacteria (4) and serotyped bacteria (4) from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) were also determined using the agar-well diffusion method. The results showed that the butanol fraction, with the highest phenolic content, exhibited the best antioxidant and antibacterial activities as compared to the ethyl acetate fraction which contains more flavonoids.