Antioxidant activities, phenols and flavonoid contents of Withania somnifera and Rauwolfia serpentina

The oxidative damage caused by free radicals to lipids, proteins and nucleic acids can trigger various chronic diseases such as coronary heart diseases, atherosclerosis, cancer, AIDS and ageing. In treatment of these diseases, antioxidant therapy has gained an immense importance. Current research is now directed towards finding naturally occurring antioxidants of plant origin. In the present study, we carried out a systematic record of the relative antioxidant activity in two selected medicinal plant species extracts. Our findings clearly indicated higher levels of both flavonoid (160.88mg g⁻¹ dry weight of leaf) and phenolic (mono di and total, 196.32, 65.25 and 268.61mg g⁻¹ dry weight of leaves, respectively) contents in the extracts of Withania somnifera compared to Rauwolfia serpentina (flavonoid 127.7mg, monophenol 170.58mg, diphenol 43.13mg and total phenol 223.32mg g⁻¹ dry weight of leaf, respectively). Similar results (W. somnifera: 47.34 and R serpentina: 35.54% inhibition g⁻¹ dry weight) were also obtained for in-vitro superoxide anion scavenging capacity.