Abstract

EVALUATION OF IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF ETHANOLIC AND AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF ACHYRANTHES ASPERA L.

Thafshila Aafrin A. M. and Anuradha R.*

Abstract

Achyranthes aspera (Amaranthaceae) is an important medicinal herb found as a weed and its parts are used in traditional systems of medicine. Plant and plant products are being used as a source of medicine since long. Plant extracts increasingly used as phytotherapeutics and are still a large source of natural antioxidant. Antioxidant activity was assessed by using total antioxidant activity, DPPH scavenging activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, SOD scavenging activity using appropriate assay systems compared to natural and synthetic antioxidants. Ascorbic acid was kept as standard. IC50 values were also observed. Thus, it can be concluded that the whole plant of Achyranthes aspera can be used as an accessible source of natural antioxidants with consequent health benefits.

Keywords: Achyranthes aspera, in vitro antioxidant activity, DPPH radical scavenging assay, total antioxidant activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, superoxide dismutase scavenging activity.