Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of ethanolic extract of Libidibia ferrea pods

Libidibia ferrea is a typical plant of northern and north-east Brazil and has well-known medicinal properties that can be found in ethanolic extracts such as antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic compounds. This study seeks to evaluate the potential antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of ethanol extracts from Libidibia ferrea pods. The pods were used for the preparation of ethanolic extracts of L. ferrea which is used to determine biological activity, and measure their total phenolic content. For quantification of antioxidant methods of DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene were employed and the method of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to measure the antimicrobial activity. The ethanolic extract of L. ferrea showed excellent antioxidant activity, as well as other similar substances commonly used for this purpose such as citric acid and trolox. In addition, it had antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.