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Emblica officinalis fruit is commonly used in Ayurvedic formulations for its role in prevention of various diseases. Its seeds have been found to enhance the antioxidant defences of the body in diabetic rats and its pulp methanolic extract is known for its antioxidant potential. However the antioxidant activity of the seed in comparison to pulp needs to be studied. A comparative study of the antioxidant potential of the whole fruit, seeds and pulp, respectively, is needed to identify which part of the fruit could be exploited for pharmaceutical or nutraceutical purposes. We compared the free radical scavenging capacity of the methanol extract of seed, pulp and whole fruit extract and also identified major flavonoids and phenolics by HPLC profiling. We also assessed the oxidized LDL-induced foam cell prevention and nitrite scavenging activity after LPS stimulation of RAW 264.7 macrophages. Pulp showed the highest antioxidant activity compared to seeds with IC 50 values of 6 μg/ml and 13 μg/ml for DPPH radical scavenging assay and 41 and 70 μg/ml for nitric oxide scavenging activity, respectively. After 5 h incubation, among the three extracts studied, pulp showed the highest activity-88.89 % prevention of LDL oxidation, higher than that of the standard, ascorbic acid. Phytochemical analysis showed that phenolic content was highest in pulp and total tannins highest in seeds. HPLC profiling documented the presence of caffeic acid, coumaric acid, syringic acid and myricetin in both pulp and seeds with gallic acid present in pulp and tannic acid in seeds and whole fruit extract.

Background:The present investigation evaluates the hepatoprotective and in vitro antioxidant effect of methanolic extract and its isolated constituent, dehydroabietylamine, in Carthamus tinctorious L, var Annigeri-2-, an oil yielding crop.Materials and Methods:The hepatoprotective effects were estimated for the parameters viz, total bilirubin, total protein, serum alanine amino transaminase (ALT) and serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and along with the pathological findings of hepatotoxicity. The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by using free radical scavenging assays: DPPH, nitric oxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical, reducing power, ferrous ion chelating ability and total antioxidant capacity.Results:Both the methanolic extract (at 150 and 300 mg/kg bw) and dehydroabietylamine (at 50 mg/kg bw) showed significant liver protection against CCl4 -induced liver damage that was comparable with the standard drug, silymarin (100 mg/kg bw), in reducing the elevated serum enzyme markers. The liver sections of the animals treated with dehydroabietylamine elicit a significant liver protection compared with the methanolic extract against CCl4 -induced liver damage. Further, both the methanolic extract and dehydroabietylamine exhibited a considerable and dose-dependent scavenging activity of DPPH, nitric oxide and hydroxyl radical. Similarly, in the reducing power assay, the results were very persuasive. In addition, the Fe2+ chelating activity and the total antioxidant assay established the antioxidant property of the methanolic extract and its isolated constituent. Among the two experimental samples, dehydroabietylamine proved to be more effective for the said parameters.Conclusion:The potent antioxidant and its correlative hepatoprotective activity of the methanolic extract and isolated constituent dehydroabietylamine is therefore attributed to its antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.

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