Abstract

The antimicrobial capacity of the methanolic extracts of Ephedra sarcocarpa growing in Iran is screened against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The extract inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria, being Pseudomonas aeroginosa the most susceptible one with MIC of 16 μg/mL for the extract. The antioxidant activities are evaluated using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assays. FRAP values 2.1 mmol eq quercetin/g extracts and IC₅₀values in the DPPH assay 4.6 mg/mL. This plant had shown the high antioxidant activities. FRAP and DPPH assay results were shown good correlations with the total phenolic contents of the plants, measured by the Folin-ciocalteau assay: (r² = 0.920 and 0.893, respectively, p < 0.0001).

Key words: Antioxidant(s), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), total phenol, antimicrobial.