Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
The extracts of leaf, stem and root of Ocimum sanctum, Azadirachta indica and Nigella sativa, were used in the comparative study of total carotene, flavonoids, phenolics and total antioxidant potential. Leaves of Ocimum sanctum, exhibited maximum total carotene content (2.17±0.272 mg /gram fresh weight ±S.D), while root of Nigella sativa exhibited the lowest (0.29±0.088 mg /gram fresh weight ±S.D). Flavonoids were found to be maximum in the leaf of Nigella sativa (4.93±0.702 mg equivalent QE /gram of tissue ±S.D), while minimum in the root of Azadirachta indica (0.16±0.033 mg equivalent QE /gram of tissue ±S.D). A trend similar to total carotene content was exhibited by phenolics with (34.9±2.427 mg equivalent GA /gram of tissue ±S.D) in the leaf of Ocimum sanctum as maximum and (6.85±2.005 mg equivalent GA /gram of tissue ±S.D) in the root of Nigella sativa as minimum. Total antioxidant potential was observed to be maximum in the root of Ocimum sanctum (0.69±0.013 mM equivalent ascorbic acid/g tissue ±S.D), while minimum was recorded in the leaf of Nigella sativa (0.22±0.028 mM equivalent ascorbic acid/g tissue ±S.D). The variability when analyzed statistically by two way ANOVA it was found significant with (P-value < 0.05). The present study showed Ocimum sanctum to be an excellent source of antioxidants which can be utilized for therapeutic purposes. However, the specific plant part need to be optimally utilized for specific pharmaceutical/neutraceutical formulation.
