Evaluation of antioxidant activities of flower extract (fresh and dried) of Saraca indica grown in West Bengal.

Abstract

Saraca indica has been greatly used as traditional medicine for women related problems, such as leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, bleeding haemorrhoids etc. In this study different Phytochemicals and free radical scavenging activity were measured in the ethanolic and water extract of fresh and dried flowers of Saraca indica collected from in and around Barrack pore area, West Bengal. The Phytochemicals studied from flower extracts are total polyphenols, flavonoids, ascorbic acid and tannins. Free Radical scavenging activities of the extracts were evaluated using DPPH assay method. The results revealed that total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins content were relatively higher in ethanolic extract of the fresh flower and water extract of the dried flower of Saraca indica. Whereas both extract of dried flower contained higher amount of ascorbic acid. The free radical scavenging activity was higher in fresh flower extract (both ethanol and water) in comparison to dried flower. The results revealed that the antioxidant property of both flower extracts may improved human health status and stay away from many diseases.