The present study demarcates antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of aqueous extracts of garam masala, an Indian spice blend, and its’ components viz. clove (Syzygium aromaticum), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) and cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), for efficient combat against detrimental principles like free radicals and microbes. The antioxidant assays performed were DPPH radical decolorization assay, ferric reducing antioxidant potential assay, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and determination of total polyphenolic contents. Antimicrobial activities were done against common food borne pathogens like Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The major conclusions arising out from the study was that the spice blend showed promising activities in the experimental parameters. It could be postulated that electron transfer mechanism was predominant for the spice blend as was evident from FRAP assay. This might be due to the contribution of the polar polyphenolics in the garam masala as was evident from their higher total phenolics contents. The spice blend also showed promising activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The major contributing factor for its’ bacteriostatic activity was mainly due to the presence of cinnamon, as the individual component showed the best antibacterial activity amongst the three.
