Journal of North Khorasan

Abstract Background & Objectives: The traditional use of herbal medicine has increased significantly in these recent years. People are looking for less charge, healthier and safer products. It is obvious that the chemical antibacterial products are creating more bacterial resistant day by day, on the other hand herbal less side effects of antioxidant agents have been proven. Therefore, the first studies on the therapeutic properties of the fruits and leaves extracts obtained from Diospyros wallichii King& Gamble are reported. Material and Methods: In the present research the hexane, chloroform and ethanol extracts of Diospyros wallichii (fruits and leaves) are screened for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Antibacterial activity was determined against Bacillus cereus ATCC10876, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC11632, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC10145 and Escherichia coli ATCC10536 using the disk diffusion method. Moreover, the DPPH radical scavenging test was performed to evaluate the antioxidant properties of the fractions. In order to compare the results the phytochemical assay was done. Results: the results showed hexane and chloroform extracts of the fruit, have high amounts poly-phenols. These two fractions were active against both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The chloroform extract of fruits had the highest free radical scavenging activity. Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that Diospyros wallichii King& Gamble could be used in the development of therapeutic medicines and health care products. In addition to, it was concluded that the poly-phenols, exclusively Naphthoquinones, play crucial roles in the properties of this plant.