Evaluation of Free Radical Scavenging Potential of Different Bioactive Fractions Present in Boerhavia diffusa Linn. Root Extract: An in-vitro Approach

Aimand Objectives:Boerhavia diffusa(B. diffusa) frequently known as punarnava is specifically used to replenish the body. The present work was designed to evaluate the scavenging potentialof its bioactive constituents. Materials and Methods:The different fractions ofB. diffusaroot methanolic extractwere examined for phenolic, flavonoids contents, DPPH free radical and Nitric oxide scavenging activities. Further antioxidant activity wasevaluated by ABTS free radical scavenging method and also from the reducing potential scavenging activity. The total phenolic content in different fractions by using various solvent like ethanol, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol were carried out to find the antioxidant activities. Results:The phenolic content was highest in ethanolic fraction that was significantly comparable with ascorbic acid. The flavonoid content was highest in ethanol fraction (41.93 ± 3.92 μg/mL) followed by n-butanol fraction (31.68 ± 1.72 μg/mL), then ethyl acetate fraction (29.67 ± 2.83 μg/mL) and least in chloroform fraction (16.91 ± 2.74 μg/mL). The ethanolic fraction of B. diffusaalso showed highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (101.29 ± 3.78) when compared with other fractions of same extract using different solvent phases. Moreover the nitric oxide scavenging activity of ethanolic fraction was maximum (82.31 ± 2.83) than different fractions. The ethanolic fraction also showed improved ABTS radical scavenging activity (81.73 ± 2.73 mg/mL) while chloroform fraction showed poor ABTS radical cation scavenging activity (29.51 ± 2.79 mg/mL). Conclusions:The study concludes that Boerhavia diffusa has rich and ample source of phenolic acid and flavonoids. Among all fractions the ethanolic has potent antioxidant activity, which shows its significance for a better novel approach.

Preliminary in vitro assessment of the potential toxicity and antioxidant activity of Ceiba speciosa (A. St.-Hill) Ravenna (Paineira)

ABSTRACT The bark tea of Ceiba speciosa, a tropical tree of the Malvaceae family, is used in the Northwestern Region of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, to reduce blood cholesterol levels. However, there are no scientific data on the efficacy and safety of this plant. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and toxic potential of bark extracts of C. speciosa. We performed a preliminary phytochemical analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and evaluated the oxidative damage to proteins and lipids, the radical scavenging effect, and genotoxicity of the lyophilized aqueous extract (LAECs) and the precipitate obtained from the raw ethanol extract (Cs1). The phytochemical profile demonstrated the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The LAECs and Cs1 prevented damage to lipids and proteins at concentrations of 50 and 10 µg/mL. They also showed a scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-pricril-hydrazyl (DPPH) radicals in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, no genotoxic effect was observed at concentrations of 10, 5 and 2 µg/mL in the Comet assay. The present study is the first evaluation regarding the characterization of C. speciosa and its safety, and the results demonstrate its antioxidant potential and suggest that its therapeutic use may be relatively safe.

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Methanolic Extract of Rumex maritimus L. (Polygonaceae).

The aim of this current study was to evaluate phytochemistry along with pharmacological activities of the whole plant of Rumex maritimus L. (Family: Polygonaceae). Phytochemical analysis of the extract of R. maritimus indicates the presence of Reducing Sugar, Glycoside, Gum, Tannin and Alkaloid type compounds and the pharmacological attention of these compounds prompted us to check R. maritimus for possible anti-oxidant, antimicrobial and antidiarrheal activities in a dose dependent manner. The dried plants were subjected to successive extraction with methanol and the extract was used to investigate the activities. The extract of plants produced good diarrheal inhibition in castor oil induced diarrhea in mice (250mg/kg and 500mg/kg body weight) which was comparable to the standard drug Loperamide at the dose of 3 mg/kg of body weight. The alcoholic extract was showed anti-bacterial activity against the tested microorganisms (both gram positive as well as negative bacteria). This study reveals the potent anti-oxidant activity that is (IC50~80 μg/ml) to that of standard drug ascorbic acid (IC50 about ~7 μg/ml) in-vitro when tested in 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging method. The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine and its further investigation.

Phytochemical contents, antimicrobial and antioxidative activities of Solanum sisymbriifolium.

The present study was aimed at screening the phytochemical contents, antimicrobial and antioxidative activities from the aerial parts of Solanum sisymbriifolium. S. sisymbriifolium is known to be traditionally used in various kinds of ailments including pain and inflammation, some of which may be due to infection by various microbes found in our environment. Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and saponins in this plant. Screening for the antimicrobial activity of tissue extracts by disc diffusion assay against test microorganisms revealed the presence of antimicrobial activity, maximum activity being found in the methanolic extracts. The activity was stable against drastic thermal and pH treatments. The antioxidative activity of its aerial tissue extracts was determined using DPPH-radical scavenging method. Antioxidant activities have been implicated as agents for fighting many other diseases such as cancer that result from oxidative damages arising out of synthesis of compounds via natural metabolic routes. The study suggests the use of Solanum sisymbriifolium species for further isolation and characterization of its bioactive compounds leading to the development of new antimicrobial drugs.

Phytochemical Screening, In-vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Leaves, Stems and Roots of Xanthium strumarium L., (Compositae).

Introduction: Many diseases are associated with oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Current research is directed towards finding naturally occurring antioxidants of plant origin. Xanthium strumarium L. a cocklebur or bur weed is a reputed medicine in Europe, China, Indo-china, Malaysia and America. It is used in treatment of common disease such as hemicrania, leucoderma, biliousness, poisonous bites of insects, epilepsy, long standing malaria, relieving constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting etc. The present research deals with phytochemical screening and in-vitro evaluation of antioxidant activities of the various extracts of leaves, stems and roots of X. strumarium L. Method: Successive extracts of leaves, stems and roots was subjected for phytochemical screening. Various extracts of leaves, stems and roots were screened in-vitro for total antioxidant potential. Inhibition of oxygen derived free radicals, viz., assay for free radical scavenging of nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, the antioxidant capacity by phosphomolybdenum, reducing power ability and determination of phenolic and flavonoids content in the extracts of leaves, stems and roots were performed. DPPH scavenging activity or the Hydrogen donating capacity was quantified in presence of stable DPPH radical on the basis of Blois method. NO scavenging activity was performed in the presence of nitric oxide generated from sodium nitroprusside using ascorbic acid as standard in both methods. The phenolic content was determined by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and flavonoid content was determined by aluminium chloride. Result: The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, sterols, flavonoids, alkaloids and phenolic compounds in the extracts. The scavenging activity was found to be dose dependent. The reducing capacity serves as significant indicator of antioxidant activity. The reducing power increased with the increasing concentration of sample. The 100mg powder of leaves yielded 0.069, 0.523, 1.620 mg/g phenolic content and 0.17, 0.45, 0.95 mg/g flavonoid content with solvents such as petroleum ether (60º-80ºc), chloroform, and ethanol respectively. Similarly, in case of stems and roots the phenolic content yielded 0.063, 0.324, 1.324 mg/g and 0.040, 0.159, 0.41 mg/g and flavonoids content 0.00, 0.11, 0.23 mg/g and 0.00, 0.05, 0.18 mg/g respectively, using quercetin as standard. Conclusion: The present study provides evidence that X. strumarium L., is a potential source of antioxidants and the extracts have constituents which were capable of showing antioxidant activity and the said in-vitro antioxidant activity may also be due to the presence of antioxidant principles present in the extracts like flavonoid and phenolic compounds. So the folklore use of X. strumarium L. has been proved in present research work. These findings confirm the great interest of the herb whose phytochemistry and phytopharmacology should be investigated further in order to detect possible phytotherapeutic uses in the prevention of ageing related diseases, cardiovascular disorders and Alzheimer disease.

A new flavonol C-glycoside and a rare bioactive lignanamide from Piper wallichii Miq. Hand.-Mazz / 中国天然药物

This study was conducted to investigate the chemical constituents of Piper wallichii (Miq.) Hand.-Mazz. and evaluate their biological activity. Compounds were isolated by various column chromatographic methods, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of physical characteristics and spectral data. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-scavenging activity and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibitory activity of the compounds were evaluated. Five compounds were obtained and identified as 8-C-β-D-glucopyranosylkaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), 1, 2-dihydro-6,8-dimethoxy-7-hydroxy-1-(3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)-N(1), N(2)-bis-[2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-2, 3-naphthalene dicarboxamide (2), goniothalactam (3), aristololactam A IIIa (4) and piperlonguminine (5). Compound 1 was a new flavonol C-glycoside, 2 was a rare lignanamide, which was isolated from the family Piperaceae for the first time, and compound 3 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Among them, 2 showed potent DPPH-scavenging activity, with IC50 of 31.38 ± 0.97 μmol·L(-1); Compounds 2, 3, and 4 showed AChE inhibitory activity at 100 μmol·L(-1), with inhibition rates of 28.57% ± 1.47%, 18.48% ± 2.41% and 17.4% ± 3.03%, respectively.