This study was aimed to investigate the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant potential of ethanolic fraction (ETH&EDI) and chloroform fraction (CTH & CDI) of crude extracts of the whole plant of Taxillus heyneanus (TH) and Dalechampia indica (DI). values (38.75 ±0.83, 62.67±5.23, 80.89±0.47μg ⁄ ml values(477.61±0.69, 404.00±0.38 & 505.52±4.83
μg ⁄ml) values for the DPPH, Hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide. Ethanolic fractions of both plants (ETH & EDI) exhibited significant scavenging activities with good amounts of phenolic and flavonoid compared to its chloroform fractions (CTH & CDI).The results of the study show that ethanolic fraction of Taxillus heyneanus possesses better antioxidant activity compared to the ethanolic fraction of Dalechampia indica which could be attributed to the presence of high amount of phenolic and flavonoids.
Keywords: Antioxidant activities, Dalechampia indica, Taxillus heyneanus, whole plant
I. INTRODUCTOIONThe human body is a wonderful machine which requires fuel named oxygen for its function. It plays a pivotal role in the energy metabolism of the body which involves various physical and chemical processes [1] .While oxygen supports our life, it also produces free radicals (ROS) in the body as the waste products. Oxygencentered free radicals (ROS) includes superoxide anion (O 2 .-), hydroxyl radical (.OH), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), peroxyl, hypochlorous acid and nitric oxide [2] . These are highly reactive unstable molecules which have a hunger for electrons, reacts with biomolecules (lipids, proteins, DNA etc.) and alters its structure and function. This, in high levels, leads to oxidative stress [3,4] .Oxidative stress occurs when our body defense systems fail to wipe off this excess amount of free radicals. These free radicals spring from different sources such as endogenous (mitochondria, peroxisomes, endoplasmic reticulum etc.) and exogenous (pollution, ionization radiation etc.) sources [5] .It has implications for a broad range of disorders including stroke, ischemia-reperfusion injury, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, spinal cord injury, cardiovascular diseases, sepsis, inflammation and respiratory diseases [6,7] .Here comes the concept of antioxidants, nature's way of cell defense against free radical (ROS) attack. These antioxidants synthesized invivo (SOD, catalase, glutathione peroxidase) or taken as dietary antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene and selenium) either quenches or scavenges free radicals (ROS) and repairs the damages caused by them [8] .The quest for effective and beneficial natural antioxidants has been increased nowadays as the synthetic antioxidants like butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) found to be harmful [9] .Plants are found to be a good source of natural antioxidants as they can synthesize phytoconstituents such as phenolics, tannins, flavonoids etc. in different parts which have the ability to scavenge free radicals [10].T...