Original Articles
Parul Tripathi, Shariq Iqbal a
Abstract
Reactive oxygen species cause much damage to cells by reacting with variety of molecules, whereas antioxidant compounds can delay or inhibit the oxidation processes done by such reactive oxygen species. Present research work was carried out to quantify total flavonoids, total phenolics and total antioxidant potential of ten indigenous plants namely Annona squamosa (Annonaceae), Syzygium cumini (Myrtaceae), Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae), Musa acuminate (Musaceae), Murraya koenigii (Rutaceae), Combretum indicum (Combretaceae), Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae), Ficus carica (Moraceae), Morus alba (Moraceae), Morus nigra (Moraceae). The results have shown that total antioxidant activity is present in Mangifera indica leaves. It was also observed that Morus nigra exhibited maximum total flavonoid content, while minimum was seen in Combretum indicum. Mangifera indica had also exhibited highest total phenolic content, while minimum level of phenolics was found in Combretum indicum. When statistically analyzed by one way ANOVA it showed significant variation amongst antioxidant potential of studied plants with p < .005. When correlation was established between total phenolics and total antioxidants, a positive correlation of 0.53 was observed and between total flavonoid and total antioxidants a positive correlation of 0.48 was observed. Our results indicate Flavonoids and phenolics account for major antioxidant activity. Furthermore this antioxidant profile would be advantageous for epidemiological research and providing support for dietary guidelines.