Original Articles
Desai Nivas1 and *Gaikwad D. K
Abstract
The accumulation of free radicals in the body result in oxidative stress related diseases in humans. Recent era is directed towards finding natural antioxidants of plants origins. Present study was aimed to evaluate in vitro antioxidant activities, phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Colubrina asiatica Brong [Family Rhamnaceae]. The antioxidant potential and phytochemical constituents of crude aqueous extract of leaves and stems involving DPPH, FRAP, Reducing power was assessed. The flavonoid and phenolic contents of the extract were also determined using standard phytochemical reaction methods. Composition of seed oil and their antimicrobial activity were also determined. Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins and total polyphenols. The total phenolic content of the aqueous leaf extract was 12.499 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of extract powder in leaves & 0.867 in stem. The total flavonoid contents in leaves were 6.8 ± 0 & 2.8 ± 0.1 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of extract in stem respectively. The percentage inhibition of DPPH of oxidation showed antioxidant activity of 57% in leaves and 43% in stem compared to those of BHT (84.6%) and gallic acid (96%). Also, the reducing potential in stem and leaves was found significant. The total antioxidant activity measured by FRAP assay in leaves was 137 ± 4.8 and 170 ± 38 μM Fe2+ in stem. Our findings provide evidence that the crude aqueous extract of C. asiatica is a potential source of natural antioxidants, some pharmaceutically important compounds in oil.