No abstract

Swertia chirayita is one of the highly traded medicinal plants of Nepal. This plant was chosen for investigation as folk medicines and then collected from the diverse habitats of Rasuwa district of Nepal and specimens have been checked and identified at National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL), Godavari, Lalitpur. The identified plant was subjected to study physiochemical and biological activity. The stem, root and leaves of the plant were dried, made powder and mixed at the ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 and then extracted using methanol solvent by cold and warm method. The percentage yield from the plant was highest in warm methanol with 3.73%, followed by cold methanol with 2.28%. Plant extract showed the presence of phytochemicals like basic alkaloids, coumarin, glycosides, steroids, quinones, flavonoid and terpenoids. The antibacterial activity of the extract showed significant bioactive by inhibiting the growth of selected pathogenic microbial species for the test. The zone of inhibition (ZOI) shown by the extracts was comparable to the standard antibiotics. Similarly, proximate composition was also carried out. The antioxidant activity of the sample was found to be 62.54% at 500 µg/mL and 15.32% at 100 µg/mL by radical scavenging method and showed significant antioxidants potential.

Composite bread prepared by wheat • our (550 types, moisture 10.85%)

Swertia Chirayita often known as Chiraito is a highly traded medicinal plant of Nepal. Its use in food industries is still under research. Application of the medicinal herb in bread prepared from wheat flour (550 types, 431 µm particle sized with moisture 12.5%) was assessed to evaluate sensory and physiochemical qualities. The antioxidant activity of the Chiraito was found to be 62% at 500 μg/ml and 15% at 100 μg/ml by radical scavenging method which shows Chiraito as the most significant antioxidants potential. Likewise, antibacterial activity of the herb extract also showed significantly inhibitory to selected pathogenic microorganism. Finding its functional properties, Chiraito powder (669 µm particle sized) with 1.0 %, 0.10%, 0.00% and 0.01% respectively were added in wheat flour to make four different type of bread and carried out sensory evaluation using 9-points (Hedonic Rating Test). The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS for Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance. The overall quality of the finished products also showed that Chiraito, as herb extract didn’t affect physico-chemical properties of the product which was measured in terms of dough yield, bread volume, elasticity, acid degree, water content, crumb porosity, texture, smell and taste. Overall acceptability showed that bread (Sample D) with 0.010% was superior and liked the most.  Since no entrance of Chiraito herb in modern food industries yet, the research would support production and commercialization of innovative functional health food globally.