Studies on Phytochemical Screening, Total Phenolic Content and In vitro Antioxidant activity of Different Extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia Roots

Abstract

The aim of the study was designed to evaluate the in vitro anti-oxidant activity and total phenolic content of hexane (HE), ethyl acetate (EA), ethanol (EE) and hydroalcohol (HA) extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia roots. Anti-oxidant activity was evaluated by various antioxidant assay including superoxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals scavenging activity. Those various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidant such as ascorbic acid. All the extracts of the roots of Euphorbia thymifolia were assessed for their total polyphenolic content. The ethanolic extract of the roots was found to contain higher level of total polyphenols (379.36 ± 6.41 mg GAE/g). All the extracts have superoxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals scavenging activities. The ethanol extract of the roots exhibited higher superoxide radical (IC50 147.25±1.3 µg/0.1 ml), Hydroxyl radical (IC50 180.22±3.1 µg/0.1 ml) and DPPH radical (IC50 117.42±3.2 µg/0.1 ml) scavenging activity than remaining extracts exhibited. This antioxidant property depends on concentration and increasing with increased amount of sample. The results obtained in the present study indicated that the Euphorbia thymifolia is a potential source of natural antioxidant. The results of the study showed that the roots of the Euphorbia thymifolia posses’ antioxidant effects which may be due to its bioactive constituents. Further purification of these bioactive constituents may result in the development of potent antioxidant agent with low toxicity and better therapeutic index.