Screening of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) seed extracts

In this study, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of water and ethanol extracts of anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) seed (PAS) were investigated. The antioxidant properties of both extracts of PAS were evaluated using different antioxidant tests, including reducing power.. free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, and metal chelating activities. Twenty mug/ml of water and ethanol extracts exhibited 99.1 and 77.5% inhibition of peroxidation in linoleic acid system, which was greater than the same concentration of alpha-tocopherol (36.1%). These various antioxidant activities were compared with synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and alpha-tocopherol. The water extract of PAS exhibited greater antioxidant capacity than that of ethanol. Antimicrobial activity tests were carried out using disc diffusion methods with 10 microbial species. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.