Antioxidant and antibacterial evaluation of medicinal plants used in the starter culture (Wanti) of fermented rice beverage in West Garo hills, Meghalaya

Abstract

Starter culture wanti used to ferment boiled rice to produce the beverage bitchi in the region of West Garo Hills is prepared by incorporating medicinal plants namely Plumbago zeylanica, Thelypteris clarkei C.F. Reed, Clerodendrum D. Don, Leucas lavandulaefolia and Scoparia dulcis due to which the beverages is claimed to possess therapeutic properties. The objective of the study was to endorse this claim by evaluating the plants with respective to their antioxidant property by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and antibacterial property by agar well diffusion assay. All plant extracts showed excellent antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The extract of L. lavandulaefolia recorded the highest radical scavenging activity of 98.51±0.08 % (IC50 - 125.17µg/ml). The extract of S. dulcis exhibited the highest inhibition zone of 41.10±0.96mm (MIC/MBC -15.6 / 62.5 µg/ml) against S. aureus. These investigations serve as a prelude to attribute the therapeutic value of the rice beverage due to incorporated medicinal plants.