Surveillance of Invitro Antioxidant and Anthelmintic Activity of Methanolic Extract of Syzygium Cumini Bark (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

Introduction: Herbal medicines have been used for treating various diseases from ancient times. Even in the era of advanced modern medicine, natural sources of antioxidants and pharmaceutical compounds are of great importance, many of such rich sources are still unearthed. Materials and methods : Methanolic extract of Jamun ( Syzygium cumini ) tree bark was screened for in vitro - antioxidant activity. Preliminary phytochemical screening results showed S. cumini was positive for flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. Antioxidant studies includes DPPH scavenging activity, reducing capacity assessment, reducing effect, scavenging of hydrogen peroxide and nitrous oxide scavenging activity against ascorbic acid (ASA) standard. Results : The phenolic content was 480 mg % of gallic acid equivalents, tannin 1.9 mg % of gallic acid equivalents, tannin was 250 mg % of catechine equivalents on ferric chloride estimation and flavon content 66.17 g/ ml was considerable. Anthelmintic property of methanolic and aqueous extract of S. cumini bark showed promising activity against control. Discussion : S. cumini could be a promising agent in antioxidant and anthelmintic research and could lead in development of new drug molecule. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on the antioxidant and anthelmintic activity of S. cumini bark.