Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION AND IN-VITRO ANTIOXIDANT SCREENING OF THE ENTIRE PLANT OF MOLLUGO CERVIANA LINN.

R. Valarmathi*, R. Senthamarai, S. Akilandeswari, M. Sivagamy and R. Saratha

ABSTRACT

Herbal medicines are effective in the treatment of various ailmentsoften these drugs are unscientifically exploited or improperly used.Free radicals are chemical species possessing an unpaired electron thatcan be considered as fragment of molecules and which are generallyextremely reactive and short lived. There is increasing evidence tosupport the involvement of free radical reaction in several humandiseases. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that inman, free radicals play a role in a variety of normal regulatory systems,the deregulation of which may play an important role in inflammation.Numbers of plants used anti-diabetic agents have been evaluated forfree radical scavenging activity. In order to further study theirprotective activity in reducing the oxidative damage to pancreatic betacells and the complications of diabetes, it is worthwhile to study free radical scavengingpotential. The preliminary phytochemical studies show the presence of alkaloids, steroids,Flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, saponins and glycosides. Hence, an effort has been made toscreen some of the indigenous medicinal plants having antidiabetic activity for its possibleantioxidant potential (in-vitro). In the in-vitro studies, in DPPH method, the percentageinhibition of free radical scavenging activity of Mollugo cerviana showed significant activity(84.12 ± 1.06%) and the percentage inhibition of nitric oxide scavenging activity wassignificant (60.56 ± 2.74) in conclusion, the antioxidant activity of Mollugo cerviana extractmight be due to the presence of phenolic groups and triterpenoids.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, Mollugo cerviana, Ascorbic acid, DPPH, Free Radical Scavenging Activity.