Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the antioxidant activity of selected medicinal plants namely Albizia amara, Achyranthes aspera, Cassia fistula, Cassia auriculata and Datura stramonium by inhibition of lipid peroxidation technique. The highest inhibition of lipid peroxidation activity was observed in A. amara (96%) followed by C. fistula (89%) and C.auriculata (89%). The potency of protective effect of A. amara was about 4 times greater than the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT). The total alkaloid content varied from 24.6 ± 0.18 to 72.6 ± 2 mg g^-1 in the extracts. Flavanoid contents were between 23.15 ± 0.2 and 63.3 ± 0.6 mg g^-1 in the methanolic extracts of these plants. Our study indicates that the antioxidant activity of A. amara could be harnessed as a drug formulation.

Key words:  Antioxidant, lipid peroxidation, alkaloids, flavonoids, butylatedhydroxy toluene.