Antioxidant Properties of Rajgira (identified) Leaves and Potential for Chemoprevention

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and the failure of conventional chemotherapy to effect a major reduction in mortality indicates that new approaches are critically needed. The involvement of free radicals with tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes suggest their role in the development of different human cancers (Bohr et al., 2002). Hence a major portion of the current pharmacological research is devoted to anticancer drug design customized to fit new molecular targets. The identification of new antioxidants remains a highly active research area, because these agents may reduce the risk of various chronic diseases caused by ROS. Plants are some of the most attractive sources of new drugs and have been shown to produce promising results in the treatment of a number of disorders. Literature reveals that plants contain a large diversity of natural antioxidants that might serve as leads for the development of new drugs (Badami et al., 2003). Plant derived natural products such as flavonoids, terpenes and alkaloids have received considerable attention in recent years due to their diverse pharmacological properties including cytotoxic and cancer chemo preventive effects. The growing interest in the substitution of synthetic food antioxidants by natural antioxidants and in health implications of antioxidants in nutraceuticals