Vol. 2, Issue 5 (2013)

Author(s):
Sindhu S, S Manorama

Abstract:
Natural products have the potential to be developed into new drugs for the treatment of various diseases. The aim of the present study was to screen the antioxidant activities of medicinal plants indigenous to Tamil Nadu, India. The antioxidant potential of both extracts of roots and stems were evaluated using different antioxidant tests, namely total antioxidant (ABTS), DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging and metal chelating activities. The Polycarpaea corymbosa Lam. extracts had higher antioxidant activities which were 94.56% (DPPH), 65.39 mol l^-1 (FRAP), and 5332.5 (ABTS) and 82.51% (DPPH), 48.28 mol l^-1 (FRAP), and 5224.5 (ABTS) in aerial and root respectively. The study suggests that Polycarpaea corymbosa extracts exhibit great potential for antioxidant activity and may be useful for their nutritional and medicinal functions.