Abstract

BackgroundFree radical stress leads to tissue injury and can eventually to arthritis, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative diseases and carcinogenesis. Several studies are ongoing worldwide to find natural antioxidants of plant origin. We assessed the in-vitro antioxidant activities and screened the phytochemical constituents of methanolic extracts of Pyrostegia venusta (Ker Gawl) Miers.MethodsWe evaluated the antioxidant potential and phytochemical constituents of P. venusta using 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2, 2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) studies were also undertaken to assess the phytochemical composition of the flower extracts.ResultsPhytochemical analyses revealed the presence of terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, steroids, and saponins. The reducing ability of both extracts was in the range (in μm Fe(II)/g) of 112.49-3046.98 compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT; 63.56 ± 2.62), catechin (972.02 ± 0.72 μm) and quercetin 3208.27 ± 31.29. A significant inhibitory effect of extracts of flowers (IC50 = 0.018 ± 0.69 mg/ml) and roots (IC50 = 0.026 ± 0.94 mg/ml) on ABTS free radicals was detected. The antioxidant activity of the extracts of flowers (95%) and roots (94%) on DPPH radicals was comparable with that of ascorbic acid (98.9%) and BHT (97.6%). GC-MS study revealed the presence of myoinositol, hexadecanoic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid in the flower extracts.ConclusionThese data suggest that P. venusta is a natural source of antioxidants. The extracts of flowers and roots of P. venusta contain significant amounts of phytochemicals with antioxidative properties and could serve as inhibitors or scavengers of free radicals. P. venusta could be exploited as a potential source for plant-based pharmaceutical products. These results could form a sound basis for further investigation in the potential discovery of new natural bioactive compounds.

Highlights

  • Free radical stress leads to tissue injury and can eventually to arthritis, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative diseases and carcinogenesis

  • A modified method of that used by Benzie and Strain [19] was adopted for the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay

  • The DPPH approach is widely applied to measure the antioxidant properties of compounds

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Summary

Introduction

Free radical stress leads to tissue injury and can eventually to arthritis, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative diseases and carcinogenesis. A common theme that underlies the aetiology of several degenerative disorders is free radical stress [2]. There is increasing interest in the natural antioxidants (e.g. polyphenols (flavonoids and tannins)) present in plants used for medicinal and dietary purposes, which might help to prevent oxidative damage [8]. Many synthetic antioxidants (e.g. butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)) are very effective. They possess certain side effects and are toxic to humans [9,10]. Compounds (especially those from natural sources capable of protecting against ROS-mediated damage) may have potential applications in the prevention and/or cure of certain human diseases

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