Green medicine, the drugs derived from plants attained a wide spread interest, as believed to be safe and dependable, compared with costly synthetic drugs that have adverse effects. The present study aimed to analyze a comparative in vitro free radical scavenging and antimicrobial potentials of root extract of Picrorhiza kurroa. The hydroalcoholic extract of roots Picrorhiza kurroa was studied for antioxidant activity on different in vitro models namely 1,1-diphenyl, 2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) assay, Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging method. Agar well diffusion method has been used to determine the antimicrobial activities of plant extracts against Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella Bongori and Klebsiella pneumonia. The extract showed dose dependent free radical scavenging property in the tested models. Picrorhiza kurroa roots extract showed IC50 value 78.68μg/ml for DPPH method, which was comparable to that of ascorbic acid (IC50=16.35μg/ml).

Picrorhiza kurroa, Hydroalcoholic Extract, Antioxidant activity, Antimicrobial activity.