EFFECT OF SOLVENT SYSTEMS AND EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES ON TOTAL PHENOL, TOTAL FLAVONOID CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF A POTENTIAL MEDICINAL PLANT TINOSPORA SINENSIS (LOUR.) MERR.

Tinospora sinensis (Lour.) Merr. belongs to the family Menispermaceae is, an important medicinal plant. Ayurveda, an Indian medicinal system, strongly advocates use of T. sinensis as a rejuvenator and several other therapeutic activities. The study’s objectives were to assess the effect of the extraction procedure and different solvent systems on antioxidant, total phenol content and total flavonoid content of T. sinensis. Two conventional extraction methods, cold maceration and Soxhlet extraction, were used to extract four parts of the plant and six different solvent systems viz., petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform, acetone, ethanol and methanol were used according to their polarity gradient. The total phenolic content was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method, and total flavonoid content was determined by aluminium chloride. The antioxidant activity was performed following two in-vitro technique assays, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assay. All the extracts of six solvents have potent antioxidant activity and methanol and ethanol extracts showed higher levels. The assimilatory root, stem, root and leaf of T. sinensis possess total phenol and flavonoid content. The polar solvent extracts showed higher activities and maceration is a more efficient extraction technique for this plant.