Phytochemical Profiling and Antioxidant Potential of Phyllanthus acidus and Phyllanthus maderaspatensis from South Odisha, India

The genus Phyllanthus comprises several medicinally important plant species recognized for their diverse phytochemical constituents and wide- ranging therapeutic applications. Phyllanthus acidus (star gooseberry) and Phyllanthus maderaspatensis (Madras leaf-flower) are naturally distributed in the biodiversity-rich regions of South Odisha, India, but are relatively underexplored and traditionally used by indigenous communities only. Antioxidants, especially plant-derived bioactive molecules neutralize these radicals and are considered safer alternatives to synthetic antioxidants. Scientific evidence on the phytochemical composition and radical scavenging potential of the root extracts of these two species remains limited. So, the primary objective of this study was to screen the phytochemical constituents and evaluate the in-vitro antioxidant activities of methanolic root extracts of both P. acidus and P. maderaspatensis collected from South Odisha, India. Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of diverse secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, phenols, terpenoids, glycosides and steroids in both of the Phyllanthus species, with notable variation in their abundance. In-vitro antioxidant assay evaluated using the DPPH and FRAP assay indicated strong antioxidant activity for P. acidus over P. maderaspatensis .