Therapeutic effects of Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus) against clinically important pathogens

Globally, resistance to antibiotics has become a big concern and has a significant effect on the health of patients. Effective treatment approached must be explored in order to resolve this problem. Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) is an essential medicinal plant with numerous biological and pharmacological potential that is helpful towards infectious diseases susceptible to multi-drugs. Therefore, present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activities of different extracts of Lemon Grass. Antioxidant potential of the plant was evaluated by different antioxidant parameters. Multidrug resistant gram positive and negative bacteria were collected from microbiology department. Comparative analysis of lemon grass was performed among aqueous, methanolic and aqueous extracts treated with different temperatures. Study results indicated that highest total phenolic contents were found in lemon grass extract treated at 170ºC while the least contents were found in methanolic extract. Due to higher contents of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, lemon grass exhibited good antioxidant potential by scavenging the free radicals and through reducing power assay. From the results it was found that the extracts of lemon grass have antimicrobial activity (>0.51 activity index) against tested Gram negative and Gram positive bacterial strains. The study concluded that lemon grass has therapeutic potential due to the presence of antioxidant compounds and its antimicrobial activity that makes it a potential source of medicines. Further studies are required to explore its healing properties against various disorders through its biological activities and characterization of bioactive compounds present in it.