Antioxidant Content of Selected Medicinal Plants Used by Kaani Tribes of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu India

Jemima Beryl Mohankumar^1, , A. Jenifer Gladious¹ and M. Velvizhi¹

¹Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, PSG College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India

Cite this paper:
Jemima Beryl Mohankumar, A. Jenifer Gladious and M. Velvizhi. Antioxidant Content of Selected Medicinal Plants Used by Kaani Tribes of Kanyakumari District in Tamilnadu India. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2017; 5(3):180-186. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-5-3-7

Abstract

Objectives: Despite the great advances observed in modern medicine in recent decades, plants still make an important contribution to health care. The objectives of this study were to determine the moisture content and antioxidant capacity of the selected medicinal plants. Methods and Materials: The medicinal plants (20) were collected from Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu. The moisture content of the medicinal plants was analyzed using Infra red moisture analyzer. For the analysis of antioxidants by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl assay) & FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power), phenol by Folin-ciocalteau method and flavonoids by aluminium chloride method the leaves was shade dried, powdered and stored in brown bottle containers. The aqueous and ethanol extracts of the medicinal plants were evaluated for their antioxidant capacity All recorded values of Moisture and Antioxidant analysis are mean of triplicates. Results and Discussion: The moisture content of the selected medicinal plants ranged from 36.00 to 89.86%. Blepharis Maderaspatens had highest DPPH activity in both aqueous (8.870) and ethanolic extracts (71.82) expressed in mg of GAE/g dry weight. The antioxidant activity AOA was 5.6 times higher in ethanolic extracts. The Mean DPPH activity of the selected medicinal plants was found to be 3.402±2.22 in aqueous extract and 19.114±17.01 in ethanolic extract. In FRAP, Blepharis Maderaspatens (633.76) had the highest AOA in ethanol extracts and Valarai (300.70) in water extracts expressed in μM of (Ascorbic Acid Equivalence Capacity) AAEC/g. The Mean FRAP value of the selected medicinal plants was found to be 145.44±129.53 in ethanolic extract and 117.96±79.17 in aqueous extracts. Blepharis Maderaspatens had the highest phenolic content in both aqueous (12.8) and ethanolic extracts (35.6). Conclusion: The study concluded that there was a wide difference in antioxidant content among the medicinal plants. The ethanolic extracts revealed the presence of high concentrations of AOA, Total Phenol Content (TPC), and Total Flavanoid Content (TFC) in the medicinal plants than water. Further investigation in quantification of individual antioxidant components in these medicinal plants possessing good free radical scavenging ability is needed.

Keywords:
medicinal plants antioxidant activity phenols flavanoids Kaani tribes aqueous and ethanolic extract

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Kamboj V.P., “Herbal medicine”, Current Science., 78(1), 35. 2000.
[2]	Charde M., Shukla A., Bukhariya V., Mehta J., and Chakole R., “Herbal remedies as antioxidants: an overview”, International Journal of Pharmacological Research, 1: 25-34. 2011.
[3]	Sharma A., Shankar C., Tyagi L., Singh M., and Rao C., “Herbal Medicine for Market Potential in India: An Overview”, Academic journal of plant sciences, 2: 26-36. 2008.
[4]	Zengin G., Cakmak Y.S., Guler G.O., and Aktumsek A., “Antioxidant properties of methanolic extract and fatty acid composition of Centaurea urvillei DC. subsp. hayekiana Wagenitz”, Rec Nat Prod, 5:123-132. 2011.
[5]	World Health Organisation (WHO), “Quality Control Method for Herbal Materials”, P7. 1998.
[6]	National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, http://www.nmpb-mpdb.nic.in/ accessed in Feb 2016.
[7]	Shanmugam S., Satheeshkumar T. and Paneerselvam T., “Laboratory handbook on biochemistry”, 1:98-100. 2010.
[8]	Sagar B.K. and Singh R. P., “Genesis and development of DPPH method of antioxidant assay”, J Food Sci Technol., 48(4):412-422. 2011.
[9]	Benzie F.F. and Strain, J.J., “Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power Assay: Direct measure of Total antioxidant activity of biological fluids and modified version for simultaneous measurement of total antioxidant power and ascorbic acid concentration”, Methods in Methodology, Vol. 299, 15-23. 1999.
[10]	Singleton V. L. and Rossi A., “Colorimetry of total phenolics with phospitomolybdic phosphotungstic acid reagents”, American Journal of Enology and Viciculture, 16, 144-158. 1965.
[11]	McDonald S, Prenzler P.D., Autolovich M., and Robards K., “Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of olive extracts”, Food Chem., 73: 73-84. 2001.
[12]	Ainsworth E.A., and Gillespie K.M., “Estimation of total phenolic content and other oxidation substrates in plant tissues using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent”, Nature Protocols, 2 (4), 875-877. 2007.
[13]	Kratchanova M., Denev P., Ciz M., Lojek A., and Mihailov A., “Evaluation of antioxidant activity medicinal plants containing polyphenol compounds. Comparison of two extraction system”, ACTA Biochemia Polonica, 57(2), 229-234. 2012.
[14]	Zakaria Z.A., Rofiee M.S., The L.K., Salleh M.Z., Sulaiman, M.R., and Somchit M.N., “Bauhinia purpurea leaves extracts exhibited in vitro anti-proliferative and antioxidant activities, African journal of Biotechnology, 10(1): 65-74. 2011.
[15]	Fidrianny I., Darmawati A., and Sukrasno S., “Antioxidant Capacities From Different Polarities Extracts Of Cucurbitaceae Leaves Using Frap”, DPPH Assays and Correlation With Phenolic, Flavonoid, Carotenoid Content”, Int J Pharm Pharm Sci, Vol 6, Suppl 2, 858-862. 2014.
[16]	Schlesier K., Harwat M., Bohm V., and Bitsch R., “Assessment of antioxidant activity by using different invitro methods”, Free Radical Research, 36(2), 177-187. 2002.
[17]	Arulmozhi S, Mazumder P.M., Ashok P, and Narayanan L.S., “In vitro antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of Alstonia scholaris Linn.R.Br.”, International Journal of Pharmacy and Technology, 6, 191-196. 2007.
[18]	World Health Organization (WHO), “Traditional Medicine”, 2013. [online]. Available: http://www.who.int/topics/traditional_medicine/en/(Accessed June 28, 2016).
[19]	Katalinic V., Milos M., Kulisic T., and Jukic M., “Screening of 70 medicinal plant extracts for antioxidant capacity and total phenols”, Food Chemistry, Volume 94, Issue 4, March 2006, Pp 550-557. 2006.
[20]	Hodzic Z., Pasalic H., Memisevic A., Scrabovic M., Saletovic M. and Poljakovic M., “The influence of total phenols content on antioxidant capacity in the whole grain extracts”, European Journal of Scientific Research, 28: 471-477. 2009.
[21]	Guo C., Yang J., Wei J., Li Y., Xu J. and Jiang Y., “Antioxidant activities of peel, pulp, and seed fractions of common fruits as determined by FRAP assay”, Nutrition Research, 23 (12): 1719-1726. 2003.
[22]	Dai J. and Mumper R.J., “Plant Phenolics: Extraction, Analysis and Their Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties”, Molecules, 15, 7313-7352. 2010.
[23]	Satue-Gracia M.T., Heinonen M., and Frankel E.N., “Antioxidant activity of anthocyanin in LDL and lecithin liposome systems”, J Agric Food Chem, (45):3362-3367. 1997.
[24]	Sahu R.K., Kar M. and Routray R., “DPPH Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Some Leafy Vegetables used by Tribals of Odisha”, India Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies, 1 (4): 21-27. 2013.
[25]	Min G., and Chun-Zhao, “Comparison of techniques for the extraction of flavonoids from cultured cells of Saussurea medusa Maxim”, World J. Microb. Biot, 21: 1461-1463. 2005.
[26]	Sahu R. and Saxena J., “Screening of Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content in Conventional and Non-Conventional Species of Curcuma”, V Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 2 :176. 2013.
[27]	Sofowora A., “Medical Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa”, 2nd ed., Spectrum Books Ltd., Ibadan, Nigeria. 71-73, 289. 1993.
[28]	Ayyanar M., Sankarasivaraman K., and Ignacimuthu S., “Traditional Healing Potential of Paliyars in Southern India”, Ethnobotanical Leaflets, 12: 311-317. 2008.