Determination of antioxidant potential of Acacia nilotica leaf extract in oxidative stress response system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Abstract

BACKGROUND From ancient times, plants and plant derived products are used as folkloric medicines in a variety of health disorders owing to their tremendous therapeutic potential. The present study aims to determine the antioxidant efficacy of crude Acacia nilotica extract in oxidative stress response system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model organism. RESULTS A. nilotica showed significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 75.157 and 159.57 µg mL−1 for DPPH radical and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity respectively at a concentration of 500 µg mL−1. The total antioxidant activity of A. nilotica showed an ascorbic acid equivalent of 152.79 ± 7.43 µg mL−1. The presence of phytoconstituents such as phytol and alpha-tocopherol from GC-MS analysis confirmed the potential of A. nilotica as an antioxidant. The results were validated using stress response mechanism in S. cerevisiae wild type and its isogenic deletion strains, sod1∆ and tsa1∆. A. nilotica substantially neutralize the ROS level generated by H2O2 in mutant strains as evident from spot assay and fluorescence assay (DCF-DA) using fluorescence microscopy and intensity studies. CONCLUSION The results suggested the efficacy of A. nilotica as potent antioxidant in S. cerevisiae system for the first time and can be used in neutraceuticals/therapeutics.