ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE LEAVES OF Alstonia scholaris R.Br.

Alstonia scholaris is a large evergreen tree belongs to family Apocynaceae, grows throughout India, in deciduous and evergreen forests and also in plains. The plant is also abundantly found in Mizoram and is known as Thumriat. The latex of the plant is applied to wounds and boils and also mixed with oil to cure earache by mizo tribes. Plants or plant-derived compounds possessing high levels of antioxidant properties also show wound-healing activities as antioxidants reduce the adverse effects of wounds by removing products of inflammation. In the present study, the antioxidant activity of the methanolic extract of leaves of Alstonia scholaris R.Br. was estimated by three In vitro assay methods namely (1) DPPH free radical scavenging activity (2) Ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay and (3) Total Phenolic content estimation, spectrophotometerically. The observed DPPH free radical scavenging activity was 23.26±0.79 mg TE/gm dry leaves while FRAP activity and total Phenolic content were 6.93±1.04 mg TE and 0.79±0.14 mg GAE /gm of dry leaves respectively.