In vitro antioxidative potential of Artemisia indica Willd

There is enough evidence, including epidemiological studies indicating the relationship between the plant antioxidants and reduction of chronic diseases in animals and humans. This paper is the first report regarding the evaluation of in vitro antioxidative potential of Artemisia indica Willd. extracts (AEs), a perennial herb found in western Himalayas and many other parts of world, traditionally utilized as medicine and food for livestock and humans. The dried and powdered aerial parts were Soxhlet extracted with methanol (AME), ethanol (AEE) and 50% hydro-methanol (AHME), to compare the extraction efficacies of these solvents. These respective crude extracts were then subjected to DPPH, H2O2, NO scavenging and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assays. For scavenging assays, various concentrations of each extract in triplicate, were tested with Quercetin as the standard. All AEs exhibited a significant DPPH, H2O2 and NO scavenging activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Lower to higher order of the IC50 value of all three scavenging assays were AME<AEE<AHME. TAC was expressed as ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE), with AME giving comparatively the highest TAC. Methanol proved to be better solvent system (as compared to ethanol and 50% hydro-methanol) in context to the antioxidative activity of A. indica, as AME gave consistently better results. Therefore, choice of extraction solvent is an important criterion regarding selecting a specific biological activity. The in vitro antioxidative potential of various AEs as evident by these assays may well be attributed to the presence of various polyphenolic compounds, as we have earlier reported (elsewhere) that A. indica possess a good amount of TPC and TFC. In gist, A. indica has a significant potential to be developed/used as a natural source of antioxidant not only as a food supplement for animals and humans, but also as an antioxidant additive in packaged food and animal feed industries.