JJBS Volume 11, Number 1,March 2018 ISSN 1995-6673 Pages 23 - 30 Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Crude Methanol Extract and Fractions of Andrographis paniculata leaf (Family: Acanthaceae) (Burm. f.) Wall. Ex Nees Adaramola Banji 1* , Benjamin Goodluck 2 , Otuneme Oluchi 3 and Fapohunda Stephen 4 1 Department of Basic Sciences, 2, 4 Department of Microbiology, 3 Deparment of Medical Laboratory Science, Babcock University, Ilishan- Remo, Ogun state, Nigeria Received May 7, 2017; Revised September 6, 2017; Accepted September 16, 2017 Abstract Assessment of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of different solvent fractions of crude methanol extract of Andrographis paniculata leaf was carried out to investigate their medicinal properties. The test samples, crude methanol eextractt and its n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and water soluble fractions were tested against five clinical isolates: Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. All the test samples showed antimicrobial activity against the test organisms, except for Escherichia coli which showed resistance to all the samples at the studied concentrations and Candida albicans which showed resistance to all the samples except for ethyl acetate with diameter zones of inhibition ranging from 11.5-17.5 mm and water soluble fractions with diameter zones of inhibition ranging from 11.5-13.0 mm; both in concentration dependent manner. The highest flavonoid content (41.79±0.44 μg QE/mg) and phenolic content (26.79±0.66 μg GAE/mg) were shown by the crude methanol extract and the n-hexane fraction, respectively while the chloroform fraction showed the least concentrations for both flavonoid (11.66±0.12 μg QE/mg) and phenolic (16.17±0.61 μg GAE/mg). In vitro antioxidant study using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay showed that the crude methanol extract had the highest free radical scavenging activity with average percentage inhibition of 54.50±0.10 while the hexane fraction showed the least with average percentage inhibition of 11.36±0.10. Conclusively, the various solvent fractions of crude methanol extract of Andrographis paniculata; especially the ethyl acetate fraction could be considered a remedy for various infections and diseases which are associated with both the test organisms and free radicals. Key words: Andrographis paniculata, Fractions, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Phenolic, Flavonoid. * Corresponding author. e-mail: feyimicheal37@gmail.com or milliangelo@yahoo.com. 1. Introduction Andrographis paniculata Nees, commonly called “King of Bitters or Creat or Green Chirayta,’’ is an important medicinal plant which belongs to the family Acanthaceae. It is a renowned annual traditional herbaceous crop with immense therapeutic properties (Datta et al., 2012) and it is widely cultivated and used in South Asia, India and China. In Ayurvedic formulations, it is one of the most extensively used plants (Okeke et al., 2001). It is a hardy and erect herb which grows mainly as an under-shrub in tropical, moist deciduous forest. It has glabrous leaves, about 8.0cm long and 2.5cm broad and white flowers with rose- purple spots on the petals (Nirlep, 2016). The stem is dark green, about 0.3- 1.0m in height and 2-6mm in diameter (Zhang, 2004; Niranjan et al., 2010). Some of its vernacular names include; Chuan xin Lian (Chinese), Kalmegh (Urdu), Kirayat (Hindu), Aluy (Philippines), Andrograhis (Spanish/Russian), Senshinren (Japenese) and India echinacea (Indian) (Jarukamjorn and Nemoto, 2008; Mishra et al., 2007; Sharma and Sharma, 2013). It is known as Bhui-neem, meaning “neem of the ground,” since the plant, though being a small annual herb, has a similar strong bitter taste as that of the large Neem tree (Neha, 2016) and in Malaysia, it is known as Hempedu Bumi, which literally means ‘bile of earth’ since it is one of the most bitter plants which are used in traditional medicine. It is sometimes locally referred to as ‘Ewe Jogbo’ (Jogbo leaf) because of its bitterness but popularly called ‘Mejemeje’ (seven-seven) among ‘Yoruba’ speaking natives in Nigeria because an average dosage comprises of seven leaves eaten raw once or twice daily for about five days in the treatment of febrile illness or chronic debility and in the treatment of hypertension (Dada-Adegbola et al., 2014). The whole part of A. paniculata as well as its roots and aerial parts have been found useful for medicines over the years (Agbolahor et