Abstract
Antioxidants have been reported to prevent oxidative damage caused by free radical and can be used in anti-inflammatory diseases. This study is aimed to evaluate the free radical potentiality of Blepharis maderaspatensis (L.) Heyne ex Roth. and Blepharis molluginifolia Pers. whole plant. The present study was undertaken using in vitro antioxidant method such as DPPH radical in different concentrations of three different extracts such as petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and ethanol. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extract was increased with the increasing concentration. The reducing power of extract was carried out with rutin as a standard reducing agent. The percentage inhibition by DPPH method was compared in terms of IC50 value, which was found to be about 39.33±0.58 μg/ml for Blepharis maderaspatensis ethyl acetate extract and 49.67±0.58 μg/ml for Blepharis molluginifolia ethanolic extract when compared with IC50 value of the standard Rutin (31.61±0.98 μg/ml). These two extracts of the plants show highest activity with the lowest IC50 value. The data obtained in the present study suggests that the extracts of the above plants have potent antioxidant activity against free radicals and these observations will encourage further research and also in clinical applications of the constituents of these plants.
