Evaluation of anti-cancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Alstonia scholaris L

The objective of the current study is to investigate the anticancer, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the bark extracts of Alstonia scholaris L. The barks were extracted with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol using soxhlet apparatus. The antioxidant potential of all the extracts was estimated by DPPH method. The antimicrobial property of the plant extracts was determined by disc diffusion method using gram positive, gram negative and fungal strains. The anticancer property was determined by MTT assay on HepG2 and HT-29 cells. All extracts exhibited significant antoxidant potential with fraction 1 of ethyl acetate extract showing the highest antioxidant potential. All extracts displayed antibacterial activity against all the selected gram-positive strains and some gram negative strains. All the extracts were found to have antifungal activity against Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans at a concentration of 2mg but only methanolic extract was found to have activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. The maximum cytotoxic effect was exhibited by ethyl acetate and methanolic extract on HepG2 and HT-29 respectively.