Abstract
Piperaceae is a highly diverse and large family composed of five genera of which Piper and Peperomia are the most abundant. The current study endeavours five Piper species (Piper betle, Piper nigrum, Piper longum, Piper chaba and Piper retrofractum) and one species of Peperomia (Peperomia pellucida) concerning their phytochemical contents, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Besides their economic uses, these plants also possess curative properties that have been exploited ethnomedicinally since the primaeval days. The methanolic extracts of both fresh (FL) and shade dried (SDL) leaves of these plants showed the presence of various phytochemicals. Among the studied plants, polyphenols like total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC) and total tannins (TTC) contents were maximum in P. betle FL extract (TPC:39.50±0.99 mg GAE/ g extract, TFC: 19.40±0.57 mg QE/ g extract and TTC 11.08±0.11 mg GAE/g extract) and significantly higher than the others. Antioxidant efficacies of the extracts by total antioxidant activity (TAA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and ability to scavenge different radicals (DPPH, ABTS, NO and SO), were also highest in P. betle.