COMPARATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ZINGIBER OFFICINALE R. AND ZINGIBER CASSUMUNAR R. RHIZOMES AGAINST BACTERIAL STRAINS CAUSING FOOD POISONING DISEASES AND THEIR PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the comparative effect of antibacterial and antioxidant activity of the rhizomes of
two different species of ginger; Zingiber officinale and Zingiber cassumunar (collected from Arunachal Pradesh) and their
phytochemical screening by standard methods. Two different types of extracts were obtained from both the species of
ginger, i.e cold water extract and methanol extract. These extracts were treated against two common bacterial strainsEscherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis using well diffusion method. The clear zone of inhibition was measured and
Ciprofloxacin antibiotic was used as control. The antioxidant activity of both the sample was analysed by DPPH free
radical scavenging assay. The results revealed that the methanol extract of Z. cassumunar had stronger antibacterial activity
against both the bacterial strains. Z. cassumunar extracts also showed higher antioxidant activity (60.90%) compared to Z.
officinale using DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Methanol extract of Z. cassumunar showed higher number of
phytochemicals present in it which predominantly consists of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, coumarin etc. The
comparative study of both the types of ginger revealed that Z. cassumunar is comparatively stronger against food poisoning
bacteria and hence can be chosen over the common ginger as a natural preservative to control food poisoning and other
food borne diseases.