ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF DILLENIA INDICA L. FRUIT OF SONITPUR, ASSAM, INDIA

Dillenia indica L. commonly known as elephant apple is distributed in the sub-Himalayan tract of India. The fruits of D. indica collected from Bhalukpong area of Sonitpur district of Assam (India) were dried, milled and extracted sequentially by Accelerated Solvent Extractor using four different solvents with increasing polarity (hexane < ethyl acetate < methanol < 50% aqueous methanol). Qualitative phytochemical analysis was carried out according to standard procedures. Total phenolic content (TPC) of all the extracts were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu’s method using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Free radical scavenging activity were determined by measuring the decrease in the visible absorbance of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) on addition of the plant extracts and the mean inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values were determined by plotting nonlinear regression curve. L-Ascorbic acid and gallic acid were used as standard in DPPH assay and TPC respectively. Phytochemical analysis confirms the presence of phenolic compounds in methanolic extract. The highest phenolic content (59.99±2.21 mg/g) was recorded in 50 % aqueous methanolic extract which also shows highest antioxidant activity with IC₅₀ value of 56.66±1.55 µg/ml. The nutrient and antioxidant rich Dillenia indica L. fruit can be explored commercially to tap its health benefit properties by large scale processing in production of ready to serve juice, drink, squash etc.