In Vitro Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Alstonia scholaris Linn. R.Br., Abstract

The present work is carried out to study the antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of Alstonia scholaris Linn. (Apocynaceae) using various in vitro tests including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH.) free radical scavenging, metal ion chelating, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, and ferric thiocyanate reducing ability. Ethanolic extract of Alstonia scholaris had significant (p<0.01) (DPPH.) free radical scavenging (63%), metal ion chelating (74.88%), hydrogen peroxide scavenging (72.28%), superoxide anion radical scavenging (67.66%) and significant (p<0.05) ferric thiocyanate reducing activities. These various antioxidant activities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), l- ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol. These results indicate that ethanolic extract of Alstonia scholaris Linn. possess antioxidant property. The results observed were comparable to antioxidant properties of BHA, BHT, l- ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol.