ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF ECLIPTA ALBA, AN INDIAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PLANT

Abstract

Now a day’s demand is for identification of natural antioxidants due to their advantages over the synthetic ones. Therefore the objective of this present investigation is to study the antioxidant potential of the methanolic extract of Eclipta alba. The plant E. alba is an annual herb, known to address several hair problems and anti-ageing and hepato-protective properties. The free radical scavenging ability of E. alba was carried out using the different in- vitro models such as DPPH, ABTS, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide assays. Screening of phytoconstituents confirms the presence of tannins, phenolics, flavonoids and alkaloids which are the main responsible for the antioxidant property. The obtained results were indicating the strong antioxidant potential of the extract when compared to the standard in almost all the assays studied. The current study provides preliminary evidence to advocate the importance of E. alba as an important medicinal plant.