Antioxidant Activites and Phytochemical Analysis of Methanol Extract of Leaves of Hypericum Hookerianum

Objective: The present investigation was an attempt to evaluate the phytochemical constituents, free radical scavenging activities and antioxidant properties of the methanol extract of leaves of Hypericum hookerianum. Methods: The total antioxidant activity was assayed by DPPH free radical scavenging assay method. The phytochemicals in the methanol extract of leaves of Hypericum hookerianum were determined qualitatively and quantitatively using standard methods. Results: The study indicated that the presence of most of the major phytochemicals viz. flavonoids and phenols in the methanol extract of leaves of H. hookerianum were 280mg/g and 128mg/g respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of methanol extract of leaves of H. hookerianum was recorded as 90.24% and chelating activity of methanol extract was recorded as 62.92% at 21μg/mL concentration. The ferric reducing power assay showed maximum activity of 0.84 and also the phosphomolybdenum reduction assay showed maximum activity of 0.069 at 21μg/mL concentration which were compared with the standards. The IC50 of methanol extract of leaves of H. Hookerianum for DPPH and Fe2+ chelating assay were 3.03 and 13.95 μg/mL respectively and showed significant results when compared with the standards. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the leaves of methanol extract of H. hookerianum showed the highest antioxidant activity as well as phenolic content. This study suggests that the methanol extract of leaves of H. hookerianum is a potential source of natural antioxidants.