P. RAMA RAO, R. RAMACHANDRA RAO, D. RAVINDRA AND Y. T. RAJESH BABU
Department of Botany, Government College, Thogaram, Srikakulam-532 484 (Andhra Pradesh), India
*(e-mail: baburajesh0999@gmail.com; Mobile: 63008 84860, 90527 96457)
(Received: September 11, 2025; Accepted: October 23, 2025)
ABSTRACT
The study assessed the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract from Agaricus bisporus gathered from Mahendragiri Hills, Andhra Pradesh, India. Preliminary screening for phytochemicals
confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds such as phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and glycosides, showing strong potential for pharmacological use. The extract demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against five bacterial strains. The highest zone of inhibition measured 24.0±0.7 mm against Klebsiella pneumoniae at 200 µg/ml. The lowest inhibition was 10.0±0.2 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 50 µg/ml. Antifungal tests indicated maximum inhibition of 20.0±0.5 mm against Aspergillus fumigatus and 18.3±0.6 mm against A. niger, both at 200 µg/ml, suggesting broad antifungal potential. Antioxidant effectiveness was measured using DPPH, reducing power and total antioxidant capacity (TAA) assays. The extract demonstrated strong DPPH radical scavenging ability, with an IC… € of 0.0660 µg/ml and a TAA value of 75.5 µg. Although its reducing power 0.09498 absorbance was lower than BHT at 0.1076 and ascorbic acid at 0.1965, it still showed notable electron-donating ability. These results showed that wild A. bisporus was a promising source of natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents, which may be developed into functional foods or therapeutic products.
Key words: Antimicrobial activity, antioxidant assay, DPPH, reducing power assay, total antioxidant capacity, phenolic compounds