Reactive oxygen species [ROS] cause oxidative damage to the tissues and protection from such damages is provided by endogenous and exogenous antioxidants. Much research work has been carried out in recent years on the beneficial effect of phenolic compounds which act as natural antioxidants and help to neutralize free radicals. So, this study was aimed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant capacity of one of the phenolic compounds phloretin. Phloretin was used at four different concentrations like 20, 40, 60 and 80 µg/ml to determine the antioxidant activity by different methods such as total antioxidant capacity, reducing power, DPPH radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging and metal chelating assays. In addition to that the ascorbic acid was used as reference compound. The results showed that the phloretin displayed potent in vitro antioxidant capacity. It was able to scavenge different in vitro free radicals in all tested concentrations. Among the different concentrations, 80 µg of phloretin has maximum activity when compared to other concentrations in all in vitro antioxidant assays. High antioxidant property and maximum protective effect of phloretin were observed in a concentration dependent manner. The results were expressed as IC50 value. The lowest IC50 value indicates the highest scavenging activity. The reducing power of the phloretin was also found in concentration dependent. According to the results of this study, we concluded that the phloretin possesses antioxidant property. Therefore, phloretin is a powerful antioxidant phytocompound which can protect biological systems against the oxidative stress. From this study, we suggest that the phloretin may be used as a dietary natural antioxidant supplement for preventing free radical related diseases.

Aim: To investigate the antihyperglycemic effect of phloretin on streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Diabetes mellitus was induced in adult male albino rats of Wistar strain weight ranges between 180-200 g by intraperitoneal administration of streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg b.w). Phloretin was administered orally to diabetic rats at two different doses like 25 and 50mg/kg b.w. The antidiabetic potential of phloretin was evaluated by analyzing the changes in body weight, blood glucose, total hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin, insulin, liver glycogen and carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes like hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase in the experimental rats. Results: Diabetic rats showed increased level of glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin and

No abstract