Total phenolic, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity of the leaves of Meyna spinosa Roxb., an Indian medicinal plant.

AIM: The objective of the present study was to determine the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, and to evaluate the antioxidant potential of different leaf extracts of Meyna spinosa Roxb. ex Link, a traditional medicinal plant of India.
METHODS: Free radical scavenging and antioxidant potential of the methanol, ethyl acetate, and petroleum ether extracts of Meyna spinosa leaves were investigated using several in vitro and ex vivo assays, including the 2, 2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging, superoxide anion scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, metal chelating assay, and reducing power ability method. Total antioxidant activity of the extracts was estimated by the ferric thiocyanate method. Inhibition assay of lipid peroxidation and oxidative hemolysis were also performed to confirm the protective effect of the extracts. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of the extracts were estimated using standard chemical assay procedures.
RESULTS: Methanol extracts showed the highest polyphenolic content and possessed the better antioxidant activity than the other two extracts. Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents in the methanol extract were (90.08 ± 0.44) mg gallic acid equivalents/g and (58.50 ± 0.09) mg quercetin equivalents/g, respectively. The IC50 of the methanol extract in the DPPH(·), superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide radical, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity and metal chelating assays were (16.4 ± 0.41), (35.9 ± 0.19), (24.1 ± 0.33), (23.7 ± 0.09), (126.8 ± 2.92), and (117.2 ± 1.01) μg·mL(-1), respectively. The methanol extract showed potent reducing power ability, total antioxidant activity, and significantly inhibit lipid peroxidation and oxidative hemolysis which was similar to that of standards.
CONCLUSION: The results indicated a direct correlation between the antioxidant activity and the polyphenolic content of the extracts, which may the foremost contributors to the antioxidant activity of the plant. The present study confirmed that the methanol extract of Meyna spinosa leaves is a potential source of natural antioxidants.