Phytochemical Analysis and Antioxidant Potential of Rhizome Extracts of Curcuma amada Roxb and Curcuma caesia Roxb

Abstract

Plants have served human beings as a natural source for treatments and therapies from ancient times, amongst them medicinal herbs have gain attention because of its wide use and less side effects. In the recent years plant research has increased throughout the world and a huge amount of evidences have been collected to show immense potential of medicinal plants used in various traditional systems. Curcuma amada Roxb (C. amada, Zingiberaceae) is a perennial, rhizomatous, aromatic herb commonly known as Amada or Amahaldi or mango ginger due to the raw mango-like aroma of the rhizome. It is used medicinally as a coolant, astringent and to promote digestion. Curcuma caesia Roxb (C. caesia, Zingiberacea) is a perennial herb with bluish black rhizomes commonly known as black turmeric and are traditionally used in treatment of various ailments and metabolic disorders like leukoderma, asthma, tumours, piles, bronchitis, etc. in Indian system of medicine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate in vitro antioxidant activities and qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of rhizome of C. amada and C. caesia collected from Bhopal region of Madhya Pradesh. Qualitative analysis of various phytochemical constituents and quantitative analysis of total phenolics and flavonoids were determined by the well-known test protocol available in the literature. The in vitro antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of the rhizome was assessed against DPPH assay method using standard protocols. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, alkaloids. The total flavonoids content of methanolic rhizomes extract of C. caesia and C. amada was found to be 2.752 and 2.920 mg/100mg respectively. The activities of methanolic rhizomes extract against DPPH assay method were concentration dependent with IC 50 values of ascorbic acid and extracts 14.11 and 170.81, 63.69μg/ml respectively. The diverse array of phytochemicals present in the plant thus suggests its therapeutic potentials which may be explored in drug manufacturing industry as well as in traditional medicine.
 Keywords: Curcuma amada, Curcuma caesia, Zingiberacea, Phytochemical analysis, Antioxidant