ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF BORASSUS FLABELLIFER

Abstract

The present study was aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity traditional medicinal plant, Borassus flabellifer. The root/rhizome part of plant was used for preparation of extracts using maceration process using different solvents. The extracts of plants were studied for free radical scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl and superoxide free radicals and antioxidant capacity was studied using ferric thiocyanate (FTC) method. The selected plant extracts showed the concentration dependent percentage inhibition on tested free radicals. The extracts showed the good scavenging activity on DPPH free radical and less on hydroxyl free radical. The methanol extract of the Borassus flabellifer showed the good percentage inhibition on tested free radicals compared to other extracts and is comparable with the ascorbic acid. The results of the FTC method also showed that the selected plant extracts have antioxidant capacity. The extracts of selected plants showed the lower absorbance compared to the control. The methanol extract reduced the amounts of peroxides from the linolenic acid oxidation with the percentage of 53.17 on 7th day of FTC method.