Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Methanolic Extract from Malva silvestans and Lowsonia inermis on intestinal bactria

Malva silvestans and Lawsonia inermis are widely used in the East Azerbaijan folk medicine. The effective compounds of these plants describe probabely their biological activities and therapeutic activity. In this study, methanolic extract of these plants were used to detect antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Superoxide anion radical scavenging assay was used for antioxidant activity test in which the superoxide anion radicals were generated by a pyrogallol auto oxidation system. The antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of these plants was tested by disc diffusion method against three enteric microorganisms. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of methanolic extracts were determined, too. The used assay for assessment of antioxidant activity in order to determine the accumulation of superoxide radicals in total extract of plant was not appropriate. However, for antibacterial assays, all three bacteria were susceptible to methanolic extract and showed 4 to 15 mm zone of inhibition. Although the total extracts of plants used in this study had appropriate antimicrobial activities,their  antioxidant effects was not significant.