Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Morchella conica Pers

• Published in: African journal of biotechnology 2006-06, Vol.5 (11), p.1146-1150
• Main Authors: Turkoglu, A, Kivrak, I, Mercan, N, Me, D, Gezer, K, Turkoglu, H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Staphylococcus aureus
• ISSN: 1684-5315; 1684-5315

Antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activities of Morchella conica Pers. extracts obtained with ethanol were investigated in this study. Four complementary test systems; namely DPPH free radical scavenging, beta -carotene/linoleic acid systems, total phenolic compounds and total flavonoid concentration were used. Inhibition values of M. conica ethanol extracts, buthylated hydroxyanisol (BHA) and alpha -tocopherol standards were found to be 96.9, 98.9 and 99.2%, respectively, at a concentration of 160 mu g/ml. When compared the inhibition levels of methanol extract of M. conica and standards in linoleic acid system, it was observed that the higher the concentration of both M. conica ethanol extract and the standards the higher the inhibition effect. Total flavonoid amount was 9.17 plus or minus 0.56 mu g mg super(-1) quercetin equivalent while the phenolic compound amount was 41.93 plus or minus 0.29 mu g mg super(-1) pyrocatechol equivalent in the ethanolic extract. The antimicrobial effect of M. conica ethanol extract was tested against six species of Gram-positive bacteria, seven species of Gram-negative bacteria and one species of yeast. The M. conica ethanol extract had a narrow antibacterial spectrum against tested microorganisms. The most susceptible bacterium was M. flavus. The crude extract was found active on S. aureus ATCC 25923 and S. aureus Cowan I. The M. conica ethanol extract did not exhibit anticandidal activity against C. albicans.