Potential Antioxidant, Cytotoxic & Antimicrobial Activity of Edible Plant Dioscorea alata L. (Leaves & Stems)

Ethanolic extracts of leaves & stems of D. alata L. from the Dioscoreaceae family were subjected to cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity. Crude extracts of D. alata L. showed lethality against the brine shrimp nauplii (LC50 = 52 µg/mL) compared to the standard vincristine sulphate (LC50 = 0.54 µg/mL) in the brine shrimp lethality bioassay test. In the free radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay), the crude extracts exhibited notable antioxidant activity (IC50 was approximately 531 μg/mL) compared to the standard ascorbic acid (IC50 was approximately 5.10 μg/mL). At the 250 µg/disc & 500 µg/disc concentration the crude extracts showed feeble antimicrobial activity against S. aureus (Diameter of zone of inhibition is 5.21 mm & 7.29 mm at 250 & 500 µg/disc concentration respectively) & S. epidermidis (Diameter of zone of inhibition 5.18 mm & 6.19 mm at 250 & 500 µg/disc concentration respectively) in comparison with standard drug ciprofloxacin (5 µg/disc) in disk diffusion assay test. The results suggest that the crude extracts might possess some chemical constituents responsible for cytotoxic, antioxidant & antimicrobial activities.