Phytochemical Profiling and Invitro Antioxidant Potential of Clitoria ternatea Linn seeds.

Abstract

Clitoria ternatea commonly known as Butterfly pea is a medicinal plant belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is used in ayurvedic medicine because of its multipotent bioactive molecules. All parts of the plant have medicinal properties and are used for hepatoprotective, cytotoxic, antifungal, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The present study was aimed to investigate the preliminary phytochemical screening and invitro antioxidant potential of Clitoria ternatea seed extracts. For phytochemical profiling ethanol and aqueous solvents were used to detect the various compounds. In aqueous extract of C. ternatea Saponins, Qinines, Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Cardiac Glycoside Phenols and Anthocyanin were present. In ethanolic extract Quinines, Flavonoids, Cardiac Glycoside, Terpenoids, Phenols, Coumarin and Betacyanin were present. The presence of different phytocompounds in the plant extracts are responsible for the various pharmacological properties. The antioxidant potential was determined by DPPH free radical scavenging method. The seed extracts of C.ternatea showed strong antioxidant activity. The presence of significant amount of phytochemicals, phenolic and flavonoid contents in the seeds are responsible for the in vitro antioxidant activity of Clitoria ternatea. The study concluded that the Clitoria ternatea seeds could be a potential source of natural antioxidants for pharmacological preparations which can be used to prevent the oxidative stress related degenerative diseases.