The Capparis spinosa L. is a species has a great interest in the field of traditional medicine for its pharmacological properties with many bioactive compounds. Our study is aiming at the recovery of this species through a phytochemical analysis and an evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities of leaves of Capparis spinosa L. collected from natural habitats within the region of Al-Jadriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Phytochemical investigation demonstrated the presence of flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, tannins, and glycosides in the methanolic extract of leaves. The quantitative analysis of total phenolic contents is being performed by Folin-Ciocalteau method and expressed in terms of gallic acid equivalents. C. spinosa exhibited progressive phenolic content in methanolic extract which was 21.62, 24.81 and 29.54 mg/g in concentration 8, 10 and 12 mg/ml, respectively. The antioxidant activity is determined by the DPPH test, showed that the radical scavenging capacity (EC50) of methanolic extract was found to be (7.1 mg/ml), while the (EC50) of vitamin C and BHT was (1 and 1.4 mg/ml) respectively. The antibacterial activity evaluated against pathogenic strains such as Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed the effectiveness of methanolic extract against the most tested isolates at 100 mg/ml while P. aeruginosa exhibited resistance against extract. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) results revealed the activity of methanolic extract against S. aureus at 75 mg/ml, while the MIC of P. aeruginosa reached to 250 mg/ml. On the basis of the above findings, it can be concluded that C. spinosa possesses obvious antioxidant and antimicrobial potential can be used as a natural medicinal agent.
