STUDIES ON ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANT OCIMUM GRATISSIMUM L.

Ocimum gratissimum L. (O.G) has been used to treat various diseases since ancient time in India. This study investigated the antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents in alcoholic extract ofO.G. The alcoholic extract of O.G. was screened for antioxidant potential through DPPH assay and phytochemical analysis was undertaken through qualitative and quantitative methods. Different concentrations of extract were analyzed and ascorbic acid was used as a standard antioxidant.IC₅₀ and % inhibition were evaluated. O.G. was found to have potent antioxidant ability of 82.40% at 200 µg/ml concentration and IC₅₀ value at 37.92 µg/ml concentration. A good correlation was found to exist between concentration of extract and % inhibition with r²=0.909. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycoside, tannin and phenolic compounds, triterpenoids and steroids, as well as 2.4 mg/g of photosynthetic pigments, 0.0003915 mg/g of ascorbic acid while 0.0910 mg/g of foliar phenol content was found to be present. These findings suggested that alcoholic extract of O.G. has potent antioxidant ability which could be the reason for its use in oxidative stress related diseases. The presence of phytochemicals like phenols and flavonoids in alcoholic extract could be responsible for this activity.