Estimation of Trace Elements, Antioxidants, and Antibacterial Agents of Regularly Consumed Indian Medicinal Plants

• Published in: Biological trace element research Vol. 199; no. 3; pp. 1185 - 1193
• Main Authors: Swain, Subhasmita, Rautray, Tapash R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-03-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Allergic reactions; Allergies; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antioxidants; Arsenic; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Calcium; Chemical compounds; Copper; Curcuma longa; Disorders; Gastrointestinal diseases; Ginger; Herbal medicine; Iron; Lead; Life Sciences; Major elements; Manganese; Medicinal plants; Microbiological strains; Minerals; Nutrition; Oncology; Pharmacology; Piper nigrum; Plant extracts; Potassium; Selenium; Strains (organisms); Trace elements; Zinc; Zingiber officinale; External PIXE; Trace elements; Antibacterial; Antioxidant; Medicinal plant
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-020-02228-2

Nutritional profile of minerals and antioxidants in Indian spice extracts was evaluated in order to examine their efficacy in treating various diseases, disorders, and allergies in human health. Extracts of four medicinal plants such as
Curcuma longa
,
Zingiber officinale
,
Piper nigrum
, and
Piper longum
, regularly consumed as spice products in South Asia, have been studied using elemental analysis, antioxidant, and antibacterial studies. While potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) were estimated to be the major elements, trace elements such as manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), and lead (Pb) were determined in the plant extracts
.
Although higher concentration of Cu was estimated in
Piper nigrum
extracts, it can be inferred that Cu is not the only factor that is responsible for gastrointestinal disorders. Methanolic extract of the plants showed the highest inhibition zone for
Curcuma longa
against maximum bacterial strains while
Zingiber officinale
showed inhibition against
S. aureus
,
K. pneumonia
, and
P. aeruginosa
. Because of the highest concentration of antioxidants and inhibitory action against most of the bacterial strains,
Curcuma longa
can be used as a co-therapeutic agent in healing gastrointestinal infections.