Abstract

INVESTIGATION OF PHYTOCHEMICALS AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF LEAF EXTRACT OF Sesbania grandiflora L. Pers

Priyanka Das* and Jyoti Harindran

Abstract

Nowadays there is resurgence of interest in the potential health benefitsof natural remedies like medicinal plants and their extracts. Thepresence of antioxidants such as phenolics and flavonoids in plantsmay provide protection against a number of diseases and have attractedmuch interest because of their ability to scavenge free radicals.Medicinal plants are therefore investigated for their antioxidantproperties, and their demand is increasing worldwide. The presentstudy was aimed to screen the phytochemicals as well as to evaluatethe antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of Sesbania grandiflora L.Pers leaves. Finely powdered leaves of S.grandiflora (white variety)were macerated using 95% ethanol. The ethanol extract was subjectedto phytochemical screening and estimation of total phenol and flavonoid contents. In vitroantioxidant assays such as DPPH, Nitric oxide and Hydrogen peroxide radical scavengingassays were performed to determine the free radical scavenging activity. Qualitativephytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids,phenolics, tannins, steroids, anthraquinone glycosides, carbohydrates and proteins. Totalflavonoid and phenol contents in 10 mg of extract were found to be 0.956 mg and 0.136 mgof standard quercetin and gallic acid respectively. The extract showed satisfactory scavengingin all the antioxidant assays with potent activity against hydrogen peroxide radical with anIC50 of 39.25 μg /ml. Antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of S.grandiflora can beattributed to the presence of flavonoid and phenolic contents.

Keywords: Free radicals, Reactive oxygen species, Phenolics, Flavonoids.