Abstract:
This study exam
ines the chemical composition of the essential oil of
Xanthium
strumarium
fruits, and evaluates
its
antioxidant and antimicrobial activities on various
plant pathogens that commonly cause irreparable damages to agricultural crops. The
essential oil of
X. s
trumarium
fruits
was analyzed by Gas Chromatography coupled to
Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Antimicrobial activity was tested against 14
microorganisms, including three gram
-
positive, five gram
-
negative bacteria and six fungi,
using disk diffusion method and
the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)
technique. The
X. strumarium
fruits
were also subjected to screening for possible
antioxidant activity by using catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, superoxide dismutase enzymes
and 2, 2
-
DiPhenyl
-
1
-
Picryl
Hydrazyl (DPP
H) assay. Thirty six components were
identified, representing 97.89% of the total oil, with methyl linoleate (40.64%), methyl
oleate (13.12%), and methyl palmitate (12.43%)
being the major ingredients
. The
essential oil showed significant activity against
Rathayibacter toxicus
(
MIC= 25 μg mL
-
1
),
and
Pyricularia oryzae
(MIC= 12.5 μg mL
-
1
). In addition, the analysis of free radical
scavenging activities of the
X. strumarium
fruits
revealed antiradical activity of 138.87 μg
mL
-
1
in DPPH, 32.766 μmole activity/
mg protein in catalase, 5.567 mmol activity/mg
protein in guaiacol peroxidase and 1.714 U mg
-
1
protein in superoxide dismutase.
Furthermore, the phytochemical analysis showed moderate to good amounts of alkaloid
(0.54 mg g
-
1
), phenolic (54.44 mg g
-
1
) and f
lavonoid (20.11 mg g
-
1
) compounds in
X.
strumarium
fruits. Our results suggest that this plant
may be a potential source of biocide,
for economical and environmentally friendly disease control strategies. It may also
be a
good candidate for further biologi
cal and pharmacological investigations.
Keywords:
Antibacterial activity, Antifungal effect, Antioxidant activity, Plant pathogens,
Xanthium strumarium
Linn
