Melia azedarach is a medicinal plant utilized
for the treatment of various disorders in Asian countries.
The antioxidant potential of fruit-seeds from this plant
was investigated using n-hexane, chloroform, methanol
and aqueous extracts. Preliminary studies were
performed on powder as well as on various extracts. An
in vitro anti-oxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH,
ABTS and TAC assays. All aforementioned extracts
were rich in flavonoids and polyphenols. The aqueous
extract (61.30 ± 3.55%) showed high DPPH scavenging
activity followed by methanol (52.95% ± 0.53%),
chloroform (52.61 ± 3.59%), and n-hexane extract (51.16
± 1.70%). Similarly, all the extracts exhibited high ABTS
scavenging activity. However, in TAC assay, chloroform
extract (81.16 ± 1.09%) exhibited the highest inhibitory
activity, followed by aqueous, methanol and n-hexane.
Therefore, further isolation and characterization of the
plant is required to explore the bioactive compounds for
their anti-oxidant activity
Keywords :
Melia azedarach, physicochemical properties, phytochemical screening, anti-oxidant