Free radical scavenging activity of methanolic extract of Grewia tiliaefolia bark in various In-vitro model systems

Free radicals are reactive molecules involved in many physiological processes and human diseases, such as cancer, ageing, arthritis and liver injury. As a result of which, much attention has been directed towards the characterization of free radical scavenging activity or antioxidant activity of plants and plant extracts. The present study was designed to evaluate the free radical scavenging activity of methanolic extract of Grewia tiliaefolia Bark in the specific in vitro model systems. The different radical systems comprised of superoxide radical, hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide radical, DPPH, ABTS, and lipid peroxidatin systems were selected for the present experiment. The extract was used at different concentrations like 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250µg/ml and radical scavenging activity was determined in terms of inhibition %. The IC50 (Concentration required for 50 % inhibition) was calculated for the test drug against each radicals. The study proved that the G. tiliaefolia extract found to have potential radical scavenging activity against different radical system. The highest activity was observed against DPPH radicals, and then followed by hydroxyl radical, superoxide radical, ABTS, lipid peroxidation system and nitric oxide radical. The activity may be due to the presence of phytomolecules like lignans, flavanoids, phenols and alkaloids in the crude extract. The further study has to be focused on isolation and characterization of functional molecules of the extract and their individual activity.