COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PHENOLICS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PHYTOCHEMICALS OF T.CHEBULA EXTRACTED USING MICROWAVE AND ULTRASONICATION

The extraction of active compounds from plants is one of the most critical steps in the commercial development of natural products for medicinal and health benefits. In view of the large number of plant species potentially available for study, it is essential to have efficient systems for the rapid and efficient extraction of phytochemicals for further investigation on their properties. The present study involves the use of microwave and ultrasonication as methods to extract phytochemicals from the fruits of Terminalia chebula. The effect of the extraction methods were studied by determining the total phenolic content, tannin content and the antioxidant activity of the extracts. The total phenolic content, tannin content and the antioxidant activity were determined by the Folin Ciocalteau method, Indigo carmine method and the DPPH free radical scavenging assay method respectively. The study revealed a 17.6% increase in the yield of phenolics and a 14% increase in the tannin content of the microwave extracts. A 20.6% increase in the antioxidant activity of the microwave extract was also obtained. The sonication extracts showed an increase of 0.6%, 5% and 9.69% in the yield of phenolics, tannins and antioxidant activity respectively. On comparison with the typical aqueous extraction method the extraction efficiency was highest for microwave treatment followed by ultrasonication.