QUANTITATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY STUDIES IN ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF AZOLLA MICROPHYLLA

摘要

Objective: The study was intended to analyze phytochemicals quantitatively, evaluate in vitro antioxidant properties and to determine the bioactive compounds in the crude extract of Azolla microphylla (AM) available at the local farms of Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu. Methods: The quantitative phytochemical and in vitro antioxidant analyses were performed using standard procedures. The bioactive compounds were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument. Results: The quantitative phytochemical analysis of AM revealed the presence of considerable amounts of phenols (90.2±2.85 mg gallic acid equivalents/g), tannins (82.2±5.25 mg tannic acid equivalents/g), flavonoids (58.5±1.87 mg quercetin equivalents/g), saponins (12.1±3.78 mg/g), and alkaloids (2.2±0.55 mg/g) in decreasing order of concentrations. The in vitro antioxidant analyses suggested that the whole plant extract of AM has prominent antioxidant prospective against various free radicals such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2’-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothialozine-6sulphonicacid, nitric oxide, superoxide, and ferric ions while ascorbic acid being the standard antioxidant used. The GC-MS analysis displayed the presence of 21 bioactive compounds, each belonging to various categories of phytochemicals such as chalcones, terpenoids, fatty acids, coumarins, and steroids. Conclusion: The results indicate that AM present in the local farms of Coimbatore is an effective scavenger of free radicals and has the potential to be used as a natural antioxidant which is attributed to the rich presence of secondary metabolites.