Acrachne racemosa: A Potent Source for Natural Antioxidants.

Objective: Many oxidative stress related diseases are as a result of accumulation of free radicals in the body. A lot of researches are going on worldwide directed towards finding natural antioxidants of plants origins. The aims of this study were to evaluate in vitro antioxidant activities and to screen for phytochemical constituents of crude, organic and aqueous fractions of Acrachne racemosa. Methods: The antioxidant potential of all these fractions and remaining aqueous fraction was evaluated by four methods: 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay and ferric thiocyanate assay and total phenolics were also determined. Results: The results revealed that chloroform fraction showed highest value of % inhibition of DPPH radical (80.72% ± 0.69), IC₅₀ of chloroform fraction was 185.58 ± 0.84ìg/ml, relative to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), having IC₅₀ of 12.1 ± 0.92ìg/mL. It also showed the highest total phenolic contents (54.38 ± 0.03 mg of gallic acid equivalents) and highest value of inhibition of lipid peroxidation (56.46 ± 1.05) as compared to other fractions. The ethyl acetate soluble fraction showed highest total antioxidant activity (0.31 ± 0.01) and FRAP value (204.33± 0.2ìg of trolox equivalents) as compared to other fractions. Conclusion: Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of Reducing sugar, Terpenoids, Flavonoids, Saponins, Tannins, Cardiac glycosides and Phenolics. Ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions contain good antioxidants compounds. So, further phytochemical studies are needed to isolate these potent natural antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]