Bharat Singh and Ram Avtar Sharma
Objective: The present study aimed to the isolation and characterization of phytochemicals from tissue cultures of Arnebia hispidissima. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.
Materials and Methods: Six derivatives of alkannin and shikonin were isolated and characterized by using various physical and spectroscopic techniques from callus tissue of A. hispidissima. The callus tissue was generated by using Murashige and Skoog culture medium. The isolated compounds were assayed for DPPH-radical, reducing power, superoxide anion and metal chelating scavenging and antimicrobial activities by adopting well established methods.
Results: The observed results revealed that deoxyshikonin showed maximum inhibition (290.20±0.440%) to DPPH-radical scavenging assay and shikonin demonstrated higher reducing ability (498.32±0.431%). Similarly, the propionylalkannin and acetylshikonin possessed moderate to maximum superoxide (345.45±0.632%) and metal chelating abilities (264.76±0,531%). Moreover, effective antimicrobial activity was also demonstrated by all the isolated derivatives of alkannin and shikonin.
Conclusion: The results of present study suggested that the isolated compounds demonstrated modern antioxidant and high antimicrobial activities. Therefore, further investigations need to be carried out to isolate new phytochemicals from tissues cultures and screening for other different biological and pharmacological activities.
