Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medical Research

Aim: Plants are the natural source of antioxidants take part a vital role in the treatment of many age-related diseases and improvement of public health. Therefore the present study was carried out to assess the antioxidant activity of the methanolic and aqueous extracts of Pandanus foetidus R. leaves.

Materials and Methods: Total phenolic and flavonoids content, total antioxidant activity and scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical were used to evaluate antioxidant efficacy of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Pandanus foetidus R. leaves.

Results: The total phenolic contents of the methanol and aqueous leaf extracts (CME & CAE) were found to be 39.75±4.56 mg of GAE/g and 45.75±5.69 mg of GAE/g, whereas total flavonoid content in CME and CAE was 295.27±6.29 and 323.25±8.12 mg/g of catechin, respectively. In DPPH, CAE and CME showed moderate antioxidant potentiality with the IC₅₀ value of 90.40 µg/ml and 115.60 µg/ml respectively. The total antioxidant capacity was found to be higher in CME (200.4 ± 8.96 mg/g of ascorbic acid) than in CAE (180.21 ± 7.38 mg/g of ascorbic acid).

Conclusion: This study reveals that, both methanolic and aqueous extracts of Pandanus foetidus leaves could be a potential source of natural antioxidant which could be used to prevent diseases associated with free radical.