Abstract
Solanum nigrum is a traditional medicinal plant renowned as a cure for many diseases due to the presence of bioactive compounds. The Solanum nigrum complex refers to a group of more than 30 closely related but morphologically distinct taxa. Five indigenous taxa of this complex were investigated for their medicinal potential by using methanolic extracts. The efficacy of each plant was different for each of the seven bacteria studied. On comparing the MIC values, S. americanum was found to be most potent against Bacillus licheniformis (34 mu g/mL), S. chenopodioides against Escherichia coli (78 mu g/mL), S. nigrum against Bacillus licheniformis (49 mu g/mL) and Escherichia coli (49 mu g/mL), S. retroflexum against Escherichia coli (30 mu g/mL), and S. villosum against Proteus mirabilis (45 mu g/mL). The extracts were also subjected to six antioxidant assays. Moderate scavenging activity was observed by all plants in the DPPH free radical assay, but S. chenopodioides was the most effective. The total phenolic contents of the five plants were comparable, but the gallic acid equivalents of S. americanum and S. nigrum were the highest (26.58 mg/100 g GAE). The highest Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity was observed for S. retroflexum, with the ABTS assay giving a TEAC value of 33.88 mM/100 g of dry weight. Metal-chelating activity against Fe2+ was observed to be highest for S. chenopodioides (70.37%). The FRAP value of S. nigrum was the highest (8.5 mM FeSO4 center dot 7H(2)O) among all taxa. The lipid peroxidation trend was very similar for all five samples. The results suggest the specified medicinal use of different members of the Solanum nigrum complex, which will also have significant nutritional value.