EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF UNRIPE AEGLE MARMELOS CORR. FRUITS

Gupta D; John PP; Kumar P; Jain J

Gupta D Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational & Technical Education, Greater Noida (UP), India.
John PP Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational & Technical Education, Greater Noida (UP), India.
Kumar P KIET Institute of Pharmacy, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Jain J Department of Pharmacy, Ram-Eesh Institute of Vocational & Technical Education, Greater Noida (UP), India.

Keywords: Bael, DPPH, Ascorbic acid, Free radicals, Phenols, Antioxidant

Abstract

Aegle marmelos Corr. (Rutaceae), commonly known as Bael, is a tree of Indian origin, well known from ancient period and
prescribed for various ailments in Ayurveda. Utilization of bael fruit in day-to-day life has a great nutritional, environmental as well as
commercial importance. Every part of Aegle marmelos including stem, bark, root, leaves, fruit and seeds at all stages of maturity posses
medicinal virtues and has been used in Ethno medicine to exploit its medicinal properties. Objective: This study was undertaken to examine the
antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of Aegle marmelos unripe or half ripe fruits. Material and Methods: The antioxidant activity was done
by using DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The IC50 (The concentration of sample required to scavenge 50% of DPPH free radical) was
calculated by plotting graph between % inhibition vs concentration. The ascorbic acid was used as standard antioxidant. Result and Discussion:
The IC50 value of extract and ascorbic acid was found to be 62.59μg/ml and 2.80μg/ml. The antioxidant activity found in Aegle marmelos may
be associated with their main phytochemical compounds like flavonoids, phenols and tannins. Conclusion: This activity supports that the fruit
can be used as natural antioxidant to treat free radical induced cellular damages and can also be used as adjuvant with other drugs to give
synergistic effects.