Enhanced antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activity of Rhizophora apiculata: An experimental report.

The present study is designed to evaluate the antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities of Rhizophora apiculata. Initially, the phenolic and flavonoid content was quantified in solvent extracts, and gallic acid and rutin were used as a control, respectively. Further, antimicrobial and minimal inhibitory activities of different solvent extracts were assessed against human clinical pathogenic bacteria, and the results showed that butanol and methanol extract has potential antimicrobial activity. FTIR analysis of solvent extracts showed the presence of phenolic compounds at 3409-3430 cm-1 that actively involved in various applications including antioxidant and anticancer activities. The in vitro antioxidant activity of solvent extracts showed excellent antioxidant potential, about 84% of DPPH free-radical scavenging, 76% of hydrogen peroxide, 82% of hydroxyl radical scavenging, and 80% of reducing power. Two-way ANOVA analysis showed that the highly significant effect of antioxidant activity depends on the concentration of extracts. The DNA protection efficiency of extracts against oxidative damage was confirmed by DNA nicking assay using bacterial DNA. The methanol extract effectively inhibited the growth and induces the apoptosis through ROS generation and sensitizes the mitochondrial membrane potential of A549 lung cancer cells. Taken together, the results showed that the solvent extracts of R. apiculata could be potential antioxidant and anticancer agents.