Evaluation of Phytochemical Constituents and Antioxidant Activities of Ricinus communis L.

Abstract

Majority of the modern medicines are derived from bioactive constituents of medicinal plants. The current investigation was designed to evaluate the phytochemical constituents and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of leaves of Ricinus communis L. Qualitative analysis of phytochemicals viz. tannins, phlobatannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, coumarin, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides and quantitative analysis of total phenolics, alkaloids, tannins and flavonoids were performed by using standard protocol. Antioxidant activity was studied through DPPH, ABTS, phosphomolybdenum and reducing power assay. To confirm the phytoconstituents of the leaf extracts, Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was followed. In the present study, qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed the presence of major class of phytochemicals. Quantitative analysis of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenols were 32.28 ± 0.28 mg/g, 256.29 ± 0.21 mg QE/g, 175.59 ± 0.78 mg TAE/g, 273.35 ± 2.33 mg GAE/g respectively. The extract showed a good scavenging activity with DPPH (84.22 ± 0.81 %) and the GC-MS chromatogram revealed the presence of 23 peaks with different compounds and Ricinine was found to be the major compound. The presence of these bioactive molecules in R. communis may provide the scientific evidences for the medicinal value and other biological properties.