Nitric oxide scavenging activity study of ethanolic extracts of ixora coccinea from two different areas of kolkata

Abstract

A plant-based diet reduces the risk of development of several chronic diseases. It is a fact that antioxidants contribute to this protection. It would be useful to know the total concentration of electron donating antioxidants in individual plants. The present investigation was based on the assessment of total antioxidant activity from both the flowers and leaves of Ixora coccinea from two different places - an urban and a polluted zone -the institute ground and East Calcutta Wetlands respectively. Antioxidant profile study was done to get an overall idea about the change of the pharmacological property of this plant with respect to environmental pollution. Ethanolic extracts of both dry and fresh leaves and flowers were screened for phytochemical constituents- tannins and flavonoids, were estimated. Samples were investigated to evaluate free-radical scavenging effect by nitric oxide scavenging activity. From the above results, it is evident that both the leaves and flowers of Ixora coccinea, obtained from East Calcutta Wetlands, contain significantly higher concentrations of the antioxidants, flavonoids and tannins than the institute samples.