IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATION OF TOTAL PHENOLS, ASCORBIC ACID CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY IN NORMAL FLOWER AND FLOWER GALL OF CRATAEVA RELIGIOSA

Plant galls are remarkable close associations between plants and insects, in which the plant produces an abnormal growth of tissue in response to a specific stimulus from the attacking insect. The present investigation was undertaken to assess the antioxidant activity as well as the total phenols and ascorbic acid content in in-vivo (normal flower and galled flower) and in-vitro (unorganized static callus cultures) of Crataeva religiosa. Callus cultures (fifteen months old) were grown on MS medium supplemented with NAA (1.0 mg/l) and BAP (0.5 mg/l) using normal and galled flower explants. Antioxidant potential was found to be maximum (89.54%) in galled flower and minimum in normal flower callus (16.58%). Lower IC₅₀ value indicates high antioxidant activity which was maximum in normal flower callus (456.12 ± 0.36) and minimum in galled flower (73.49 ± 0.24). Total phenols and ascorbic acid were also higher in galled tissues as compared to normal flower and in-vitro tissues. These primary findings showed that insect induces higher levels of phenolics and ascorbic acid constituents that are responsible for higher antioxidant activity. The results indicate that insect induced galls may be considered as a promising source of natural antioxidants for food and medicinal applications.