In Vitro Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Potential of Medicago sativa Linn.

This study was designed to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and free radicals scavenging potential of methanol extract of Medicago sativa using different antioxidant tests including 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH) free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and metal chelating activities. The methanol extract of M. sativa showed significant (p < 0.01) DPPH free radical scavenging (71.05%), superoxide anion radical scavenging (72.59%), hydrogen peroxide scavenging (64.38%) and metal ion chelating (68.98%) activities. These various antioxidant abilities were compared to standard antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) and α -tocopherol. The results indicated that M. sativa possess antioxidant property. The results observed were comparable to antioxidant properties of BHA, BHT and α-tocopherol