EVALUATION OF PHENOLIC PROFILE AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF MEDICINAL PLANTS.

Medicinal plants namely P. guajava, F. benghalensis, C. paradisi, G. radicans, F. religiosa, V. vinifera, P. granatum, M. alba and Z. jujuba leaves were assessed for their total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and antioxidant potential. The selected plant leaves were extracted in 80% methanol. The TP and TF contents found to be in the range of 24.0 to 47.6 mg GAE/g DW and 14.9-114.9 mg CE/g DW, respectively. Major phenolics, i.e. gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, m-coumaric acid, 4-hydroxy,3-methoxy benzoic acid, ferulic acid, syringic acid and vanillic acid were detected by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Among all plant leaves, P. granatum exhibited maximum amount of phenolic acids followed by M. alba. The DPPH radical scavenging activity was 29.11-83.20%, whereas reducing potential of 2.5 to 10 mg/ml was recorded to be 0.47-1.41. A positive relationship between total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant capacity was found in selected medicinal plant leaves and results revealed that plant under investigation could be potential source of natural antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]