Ultra-sound assisted extraction, anti-oxidant, cytotoxic and antimicrobial studies of Moringa oleifera flowers

The study was undertaken to determine antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial activities of Moringa oleifera flowers. We used three different solvents, hexane (MOF-H), ethyl acetate (MOF-EA) and methanol (MOF-M), to extract the flowers of M. oleifera using the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) approach. Disc diffusion method was used to test for antimicrobial activity. In cytotoxicity research, cell lines derived from breast cancer (MCF-7) and ovarian cancer (ES-2) were used. IC₅₀ values for DPPH, ABTS and Nitric oxide for MOF-EA are 33.54±1.13, 29.86±0.08 and 49.7±1.12μg/mL, respectively, making it the most effective antioxidant in terms of scavenging free radicals. The order of suppression of bacterial growth by the methanolic extract was E. coli>P. aeruginosa>S. aureus, making it the most effective antibacterial agent tested. MOF-H, MOF-EA and MOF-M had fungal inhibition zones of 5.6mm, 7mm and 10.7mm, respectively, compared to DMSO. It was found that MOF-EA had potent antioxidant, cytotoxic and antibacterial capabilities that could be employed as an alternate treatment therapy following clinical trials.