Antioxidant Activity of Selected Wild Orchids of Nepal

Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Biology - Botany, grade: -, , language: English, abstract: The inhibitory or delaying action of both the synthetic chemicals and naturally occurring phytochemicals against oxidative damage to tissues by free radicals produced in biological system of living organisms is known as antioxidant activity. Since some phytochemicals are responsible for biological as well as medicinal activities, nine wild orchids of Nepal were assessed for total polyphenolics and flavonoids content along with the antioxidant activity. The ethanolic extract of Eria graminifolia pseudobulbs, Gastrochilus acutifolius leaf and root, G. distichus whole plant, Luisia trichorhiza leaf and root, Otochilus albus pseudobulbs, Papillionanthe uniflora whole plant, Pholidota articulata leaf and pseudobulbs, Rhynchostylis retusa leaf, and Trudelia cristata leaf and stem were prepared by Soxhlet extraction. Phytochemicals were detected by previously established protocols with minor modifications. The total flavonoids were estimated with aluminium chloride method and total polyphenolics content with Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent method. Antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay. There was significant variation of total flavonoids, total polyphenolics content and antioxidant activity among the orchid extracts at P = 0.05. The total flavonoids varied with highest in Rhynchostylis retusa leaf (110.68 ± 4.52 mg QE/g) and lowest content in Gastrochilus acutifolius root (22.32 ± 1.10 mg QE/g); total polyphenolics with highest in Trudelia cristata stem (69.68±2.78 mg GAE/g) and lowest content in Gastrochilus acutifolius leaves (11.89±0.64 mg GAE/g). Also, the antioxidant activity varied with highest in Trudelia cristata stem (IC50 79.69 ?g/ml) and lowest DPPH radical scavenging activity in Gastrochilus acutifolius leaf (IC50 341.79 ?g/ml). However, none of the orchid extracts were as effective as quercetin - the reference compound - in radical scavenging activity (IC50 32.90 ?g/ml). Total polyphenolics and flavonoids content and antioxidant activity of selected orchid extracts in this study were higher or lower than medicinal plant and orchid extracts of previous studies with considerable margin. Again, their antioxidant activity was positively associated with total flavonoids and total polyphenolics content. [...]