antioxidant

This research work was carried out on the species Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott (Nephrolepidaceae), a fern from Côte d’Ivoire with the aim of establishing its phytochemical, antioxidant and biological profile. The results obtained from the phytochemical screening show that said species contains alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, polyphenols, sterols, terpenes, and tannins. The antioxidant activity was evaluated spectrophotometrically against the DPPH radical in comparison with that of vitamin C. The determination of the antibacterial parameters indicates that N. biserrata doesn’t exhibit any bactericidal action against the bacterial strains tested. Regarding the vermicidal activity against earthworms, decocts of N. biserrata showed an anthelmintic effect, which however remains less pronounced than that of albendazole, the anthelmintic antiparasitic taken as a reference.

The present review focuses about the benefits of herbal ingredients in the formulation of sunscreen. Sunscreens are called as sunburn or sun blocker creams. Sunscreen function is to protect the skin from damaging effects caused by solar UV radiations. They aid [synergies with] the body’s natural defense mechanisms against solar UV radiations. Its function is based on their ability to absorb, reflect or scatter the rays from sun. Herbal cosmetics are known as the products which acts as beautifying agent as well as have physiological functions like healing, soothing, conditioning, appearance and enhancing characters because of the presence of herbal ingredients.” There is a proof from regulatory authorities that the synthetic sunscreens are more effective towards UV related problems but they have their own potential risk. So, its beneficial and safe to use herbal ingredient in the sunscreen rather than synthetic ingredients. They are easier to incorporate in the sunscreen formulation and do not induce any side effects or provoke the allergic reactions. They are eco-friendly, effective & have good purity, stability, safety, cost effective and easily found in large variety of plants. Hence in this current review an attempt was made to study sunblocking agents which have antioxidant property, that prevent penetration of UV radiation and hence inhibits free radical production. Keywords: Ultravoilet radiation [UVR], Ultravoilet radiation-A [UVA], Ultravoilet radiation-B [UVB], Ultravoilet radiation-C [UVC], antioxidant, SPF [sun protection factor].

Man’s existence on this earth has been made possible only because of the vital role played by the plant kingdom in sustaining his life. The three important necessities of life – food, clothing and shelter and a host of other useful products are supplied to a great extent by the plant kingdom. Cardiospermum halicacabum is one of the medicinally potential plants which is used in the treatment of rheumatism, lumbago, cough, hyperthermia, and nervous diseases. The present investigation was undertaken to screen the phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of Cardiospermum halicacabum whole extract.

Citrullus colocynthis Schrad., traditional Tunisian medicinal plant, showed beneficial effects against oxidative stress mediated diseases, namely its fruits and seeds which contain several compounds with biological activity. The present study reports the antioxidant and the antiproliferative properties of different seed and fruit organic extracts. Antioxidant activity was assessed by the ability to quench the free DPPH and the superoxide anion radicals and inhibit the ABTS cation. Methanol extracts presented the highest DPPH scavenging (seeds IC50 = 0.178 mg/ml; fruit IC50 = 0.223 mg/ml) and superoxide scavenging (seeds IC50 = 28.102 µg/ml; fruits IC50 = 30.793 µg/ml) activities. All extracts inhibited the ABTS radical formation. The most interesting TEAC values were registered with methanol extracts (seeds = 1.225 and fruits = 1.120). Petroleum ether seed extract showed the lower antioxidant action. Seed and fruit organic extracts were also tested for their antiproliferative activity on HT-29 human cell line. All extracts induced a concentration dependent growth inhibition. Petroleum ether seed extract exhibited the higher growth inhibition activity (IC50 = 321 µg/ml), while methanol fruit extract showed the less antiproliferative efficiency (IC50 >500 µg/ml). Data obtained indicate that seeds and fruits constitute an excellent source of effective natural antioxidants and chemopreventive agents.

In the present study N-(2-oxosubstitutedindolin-3-ylidine)-2-phenylacetohydrazides (IV a-h) have been synthesized in good yields and characterized by IR, PMR and mass spectral analyses. Compounds were evaluated for their preliminary in vitro cytotoxic activity against HeLa cancer cell lines by standard MTT assay and also were screened for antioxidant activity by DPPH method. Our results shown that two of the analogues IVf and IVc  are potent antioxidant agents and IVb and IVg are potent cytotoxic agents.

Pulse crops, rich in flavonoids and polyphenolics possess not only free radical scavenging properties but also they are highly safe in the treatment of many diseases. Quantitative determination of phenols and flavonoids in seed coat, dehusked raw dal, dehusked cooked dal and whole seed of locally grown red lentil (Lens culinaris L.) was carried out using spectrophotometric methods. The amount of total phenols were analysed by using Folin-Ciocalteau assay and the amount of total flavonoids were analysed using aluminium chloride calorimetric assay. Gallic acid and catechin reagents were used as the standards For the calibration of phenols and flavonoids respectively. Hydrophillic and hydrophobic phenols were also estimated to confirm total phenolic composition. Orthodihydric phenols were analysed by Arnow’s method. Free radical scavenging efficiencies and antioxidant activities were analysed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and ferric thiocyanate (FTC) assay respectively. Among the four treatments, seed coat extract showed highest scavenging activity followed by whole seed, dehusked raw dal and lowest found in dehusked cooked dal extracts in terms of their EC50 values. The results from analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant properties varied among the different methanolic extracts significantly (p

More than 90 countries have given the artificial sweetener aspartame the green light to be used in thousands of food and beverage products. The artificial dipeptide sweetener aspartame [APM; L- aspartyl-L- phenylalanine methyl ester] is present in many products especially unsweetened and sugar products. These products are frequently utilized by people trying to lose weight or patients with diabetes. Concern relating to the possible adverse effect has been raised due to aspartames metabolic components. Aspartame is rapidly and completely metabolized in humans and experimental animals to aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%). Methanol, a toxic metabolite is primarily metabolized by oxidation to formaldehyde and then to formate these processes are accompanied by the formation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. This study focus is to understand whether the oral administration of aspartame (40 mg/kg b.w.) for 90 days, have any effect on membrane bound ATPase’s, antioxidant status and immune response (cell and humoral) of rats. To mimic human methanol metabolism, folate deficient rats were used. After 90 days of aspartame administration, shows free radical production by a significant increase in LPO and nitric oxide (NO) level and decrease in both enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant level which alters the immune response. This study concludes that oral administration of aspartame (40mg/kg b.w) for longer duration may cause oxidative stress on immune organs and altered the immune response (cell and humoral) in wistar albino rats.

The present study investigated the hepatoprotective activity of methanolic rhizome extract of Curculigo orchioides (MECO) in CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity model in rats. The hepatoprotective activity of methanolic rhizome extract of Curculigo orchioides were evaluated against CCl4-induced hepatic damage in rats. The three doses of MECO (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) were administered orally once daily for seven days. Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (AST), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (ALT), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin were estimated along with the estimation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver tissues. Further histopathological examination of the liver sections was carried out to support the induction of hepatotoxicity and hepatoprotective efficacy. The extract revealed significant activities and substantially elevated serum enzymatic levels of AST, ALT, ALP and total bilirubin were found to be normalized significantly by the MECO in a dose dependent manner with maximum hepatoprotection observed at 400 mg/kg dose level. The histopathological observations also indicated the biochemical evidences of hepatoprotection. Elevated level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreased level of malondialdehyde (MDA) further affirmed the hepatoprotective observations. The results of the present study demonstrated that MECO have potent hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced hepatic damage in experimental animals.

The artificial dipeptide sweetener aspartame [APM; L- aspartyl-L- phenylalanine methyl ester] is present in many products especially unsweetened and sugar products. These products are frequently utilized by people trying to lose weight or patients with diabetes. Concern relating to the possible adverse effect has been raised due to aspartames metabolic components. Aspartame is rapidly and completely metabolized in humans and experimental animals to aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%). Methanol, a toxic metabolite is primarily metabolized by oxidation to formaldehyde and then to formate these processes are accompanied by the formation of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. This study focus is to understand whether the oral administration of aspartame (40 mg/kg b.w) for 90 days, have any effect on membrane bound ATPases in RBC, antioxidant status in blood cell and neutrophil function of rats. To mimic human methanol metabolism, folate deficient rats were used. After 90 days of aspartame administration, shows a significant change in membrane bound ATPases, antioxidant level and immune response. This study concludes that oral administration of aspartame (40mg/kg b.w) for longer duration may cause oxidative stress in blood cell and altered the neutrophil function

A total of 4 compounds have been isolated from a methanol extract of Bryophyllum daigremontianum. These compounds were identified as glut-5(6)-en-3β-ol (1), mixture of α-amyrin (2a) & β-amyrin (2b) and stigmasterol (3), by extensive analysis of NMR data and by comparison with published values. The crude extract was subjected to assay for antioxidant potential through determination of total phenolic content, membrane stabilizing and thrombolytic activities, which revealed potent antioxidant and moderate membrane stabilizing activities and inhibition of clot of rat’s blood.