IN VITRO ASSESSMENT OF ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIALACTIVITIES OF METHANOL EXTRACT FROM LEAVES OFGOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM

ABSTRACTThe leaves of Gossypium hirsutum have historically been used to treat wound and a number of bacterial illnesses.Hence, this study seeks to screen the methanol leaf extract of G. hirsutum for its chemical composition,antioxidant and antimicrobial activities in order to find possible sources of novel phytochemicals. Qualitative andquantitative phytochemical screenings were conducted on the extract using standard method. The different phytocompounds in the extract were identified using Gas Chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Theantioxidant activity of the extract was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazy (DPPH), Nitric oxidescavenging (NOS) and 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzo thiozoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assays while theantimicrobial activity was estimated using the zone of inhibition method. The qualitative phytochemical screeningshowed that the extract has phenol, flavonoid, terpenoid, steroid, proanthocyanidin, phytate, tannin and saponinwhile the quantitative screening showed that the extract contains the above-named phytochemicals in differentconcentration and phenols been the highest 759.66 ± 16.03mg/100g of the extract. The GC-MS analysis showedthe presence of fifty-one (51) compounds accounting for 99.50% of the total component of the crude extract. Themajor compounds found in the extract include palmitic acid 20.415, caryophyllene 13.65% and α – linolenic acid13.49%. The methanol leaf extract showed percentage DPPH, ABTS and NOS radical scavenging activity of44.10 ± 3.20, 64.06 ± 0.63 and 55.44 ± 0.99 respectively. The extract was active against some Bacillus species,Bacillus polymyxa (NCTC10343) 17.75 ± 0.25, Bacillus stearothermophillus (NCIB 8222) 14.75 ± 0.75 andBacillus cerus (NCIB 532) 13.50 ± 0.5. The leaf extract exhibited promising antioxidant and antimicrobialproperties, offering a potential source for the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents. KEYWORDS: Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, Gossypium Hirsutum, Methanol Extract INTRODUCTIONPlants are a treasure trove of bioactivecompounds that can be harnessed to developnovel drugs (Kumar et al., 2022). Thesecompounds, which are found in variousplant parts, possess antimicrobial propertiesthat are essential for therapeutic treatments(Singh et al., 2020). The pharmacologicalactivities of medicinal plants can beattributed to their secondary metabolites,which are smaller molecules compared toprimary metabolites (Pavelkova et al.,2020). Secondary metabolites, includingalkaloids, terpenoids, tannins, saponins,flavonoids, and cardiac glycosides, havebeen shown to exhibit antimicrobial andantifungal activities, making them potentialcandidates for the development of novel