SYNERGISTIC ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF LIPOIC, FERULIC AND ELLAGIC ACID

Antioxidants prevent the damage done to the cells by free radicals that are released during the normal metabolic process of oxidation. Some of these free radicals include reactive oxygen species, hydroxyl, the superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and peroxyl which generate metabolic products that attack lipids in the cell membranes or DNA. These are associated with DNA damage, carcinogenesis and cellular degeneration related to aging and also contributes to heart diseases and arthritis. Researchers around the world have identified many natural constituents with antioxidant activity. Thus in the present work we have studied the synergistic antioxidant activity of lipoic, ferulic and ellagic acid which is naturally occurring compounds having medicinal properties by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay. Highest antioxidant activity is reported for mixture of all the three compounds with 98% & 64% inhibition in both methanoilc and aqueous solutions followed by ferulic acid with 97% & 70% inhibition and mixture of ellagic and lipoic acid with 96% & 59% inhibition in both methanoilc and aqueous solutions. Thus from the results it is clear that the appropriate combinations of all the compounds showed best antioxidant activity. The high antioxidant activity can be attributed due to synergistic effect.