In vitro antioxidative acitivity of Azadirachta indica and Melia azedarach Leaves by DPPH scavenging assay

Medicinal plants are a major source of raw material for the traditional system like Ayurveda, Siddha & Unani. Even the modern system of medicine has more than 25 percent of drugs in use, which are either plant based or plant derived. Although several tree posses various medicinal properties, it has been ignored by indigenous & modern system of medicine. Among them Azadirachta indica & Melia azedarach belonging to family Meliaceae play a vital role in day to day usage of different indigenous communities due to its sacred and medicinal value. Recently there has been an upsurge of interest in the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants as antioxidants. In the course of finding potential antioxidant from plant source, two medicinal tree species belonging to family Meliaceae has been selected. Leaves were dried and extracted with different solvent systems namely water, ethanol & methanol. Antioxidant activity using DPPH radical scavenging assay of six extracts from two genus of the family Meliaceae is reported & a comparison of the free radical scavenging ability of the extracts is emphasized. The result of the present study showed that the extract of Melia azedarach., which contains highest amount of phenolic compounds exhibited the greatest anti-oxidant activity in comparison to Azadirachta indica. The high scavenging property of may be due to hydroxyl groups existing in the phenolic compounds chemical structure that can provide the necessary components as a radical scavenger. (Nature and Science 2010; 8(4):22-28). (ISSN: 1545-0740).