Background Rumex abyssinicus (RA) is one of indigenous plants to Ethiopia having traditional values during butter refinement in rural areas. This paper presents a comparative study of the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of RA sample extract to that of Zingiber officinale (ZO) and Curcuma longa (CL). Methods Phytochemical screening tests were, first, done using different confirmatory tests prior to quantitative determinations. Quantitative determinations were then conducted—the total phenolic content by the Prussian blue method, total flavonoid content by the aluminum colorimetric assay, and antioxidant activity by the reducing power assay and the cyclic voltammetry technique. Results All of the samples showed positive tests, with different intensities, for the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, glycosides and tannins, but not for alkaloids. The total phenolic content, the total flavonoid content and the antioxidant activities of RA (in mg/100 g dry weight) were found to be 319.208 ± 15.997, 113.252 ± 1.702 and 45.632 ± 2.026, respectively. On the other hand, both oxidation and reduction peaks were observed in the cyclic voltammetry analysis of the herbs, showing a quasi-reversible redox process of their phenolic compounds. The determination of the inhibition zones (in mm) of ethanol extract of RA was found to be 20.33 ± 0.58, 21.67 ± 0.58, 19.17 ± 0.29, 18.17 ± 0.29, and 21.67 ± 0.58 against Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Shigella flexneri bacteria strains, respectively. Conclusion The substantial antioxidant and antibacterial activities of RA compared to ZO and CL indicate that the traditional use of the herb to refine butter and keep it safe longer without rancidity formation and other traditional medicinal practices can be attributed to both its antioxidant and antibacterial activities.
People living in and around Ab’ala area of the Afar Regional State, Ethiopia, have a traditional practice of applying Ficus carica leaf and Solanum incanum fruit extracts to milk in order to coagulate it as soon as possible. Thus, to investigate the role of the extracts in the coagulation of milk and their health threats, the milk-clotting activity, phytochemical screening tests, antimicrobial activities by the agar well diffusion method, and heavy metal content by ICP-OES technique were determined. Accordingly, both Ficus carica and Solanum incanum were found to possess phenolics, saponins, and tannins. Likewise, positive tests for flavonoid in Ficus carica and alkaloid in Solanum incanum were observed. However, no terpenoids, glycosides, and oxalates were detected in the plants. Moreover, the crude and concentrated enzyme extracts of the plants exhibited clotting activity. In this regard, the enzyme extracts of Ficus carica were superior with the highest clotting activity of 1.20 U. On the other hand, ethanol and chloroform extracts of the samples showed inhibition zones against all tested microorganisms except their chloroform extract which did not exhibit inhibition against Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger. Likewise, the metals Cr, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Fe were detected in the plant samples, with the Mn content of 3.67±0.10 mg per kg of dry weight of the plant in Ficus carica being the highest. Indeed, the level of the heavy metal contents is considerably lower than those maximum permissible limits set by international standards. On the other hand, no Pb and Zn were detected in the plant samples. Therefore, the higher clotting activity of the enzyme extracts was an indicator that enzymes, rather than other phytochemicals, are the most probable agents responsible for the milk-clotting ability of the plants, resulting in the formation of cheese. Furthermore, the growth inhibition to most of the test microbes is a manifestation that bacterial fermentation is not a means of clotting the milk as bacteria introduced to the milk would be killed by the sample extracts. Moreover, the use of the plants in the coagulation process would not pose health threats as far as oxalate and metal toxicity is concerned.
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