Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Sanguisorba minor L. Extracts

The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of methanol and chloroform extracts of Sanguisorba minor L. subsp. muricata Briq. herba (S. minor). Total phenolic and flavonoid content of the investigated extracts were characterized. Antioxidant activity was estimated by five different in vitro assays. Antioxidant potency composite index was calculated also. Antimicrobial activity was tested against nine bacterial and one fungus strains by the micro-well dilution assay. The methanol extract of S. minor contains more phenols and shows the stronger antioxidant and antibacterial activity in comparison to the chloroform extract. However, the chloroform extract was superior to the methanol extract in content of flavonoids. Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive than Gram-negative, to both extracts, Staphylococcus aureus being the most sensitive. Sanguisorba minor extracts were not considerably active against Candida albicans. The previous research data about Sanguisorba minor are scarce, so this data represent the first report on antimicrobial activity of S. minor. These results indicate that extracts of S. minor subsp. muricata have evidence-based potential for more comprehensive studies.