Comparative Study on Antioxidant Property of Terminalia arjuna Bark and Corewood

Free radicals cause aging, tissue injury and progression of any disease. Long term application of an appropriate and safe antioxidant can prevent the above disorders. Present study aims to identify the total phenolic and flavonoid content present and the antioxidant property of T. arjuna bark and core wood. The said parameters were estimated using four different solvents namely hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Total phenolics and flavonoids in all the crude extracts were quantified. Antioxidant activity was estimated by the reducing power, 2, 2’–diphenyl–1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), beta-carotene bleaching and hydrogen peroxide methods. Methanol extract of core wood showed the largest amount of phenolics and flavonoids. Methanol extract of core wood showed the highest activity by reducing power, β carotene and hydroxyl radical scavenging methods. However in DPPH assay ethyl acetate of core wood showed the highest scavenging activity. In conclusion, the study reveals that core wood extract of T. arjuna contained more antioxidant compounds. Most of the assays showed better results in methanol extract proving it as best solvent for extracting the antioxidant compounds and for the assay of total phenolic and flavonoids of T. arjuna. This report is one among the few, which compares core wood and bark of T. arjuna.