Free radical scavenging, antioxidant activity And phenolic content of Salvadora oleoides Decne Leaves.

Salvadora oleoides Decne (Salvadoraceae) is facultative halophyte tree found in dry and arid regions of India. Traditionally, it is used in the treatment of various ailments like piles, tumors, bronchitis, asthma, rheumatism, fever, conjunctivitis, digestive disorders, opacity of cornea, as carminative and alexipharmic etc. The plant is reported to possess antihypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, analgesic and antimicrobial activities. The purpose of current research study was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant potential of Salvadora oleoides Decne leaves.

Dried powdered leaves of Salvadora oleoides Decne were extracted with different solvents (Petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) using soxhlet extraction. To evaluate free radical scavenging and antioxidant abilities seven in vitro test systems were employed i.e. DPPH scavenging, ABTS scavenging, superoxide anion scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, Total antioxidant potential in a linoleic acid emulsion and FRAP assay.

The extracts were proved to have significant antioxidant potential in models like DPPH scavenging, ABTS scavenging, total antioxidant potential in linoleic acid emulsion. In all these studies, methanol extract exhibited higher antioxidant potential as compared to chloroform extract and petroleum ether extract respectively. In antioxidant potential study models viz. superoxide anion scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, FRAP assay and NO scavenging assay, none of extracts exhibited much significant activity as compared to respective standards.

The antioxidant potentials and total phenolic content of different extracts followed the same order, i.e., there is a good correlation between antioxidant potential and total phenolic content. Results showed that these extracts especially methanol extract, could be considered as natural antioxidants and may be useful for curing diseases arising from oxidative degradation.