Abstract:
The present study has been designed to examine the antioxidant activity of the methanol extract of the whole plants of Malva verticillata. Antioxidant activity was determined by using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric reducing power assays. In addition, % yield, total phenolic, total flavonoid contents and total antioxidant activity were also determined. Total phenolic contents were expressed as gallic acid equivalent (GAE), total flavonoids contents were expressed as quercetin equivalent (QE) and total antioxidant activity was expressed as ascorbic acid equivalent (AAE) of the methanol extracts whole plants of Malva verticillata. The methanol extract showed strong DPPH free radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value of 202.55 ± 5.2 μg/ml compared to the positive control ascorbic acid with an IC50 value of 173.83 ± 3.98 μg/ml. in addition the methanol extract also showed strong ferric reducing activity which is comparable to the potent antioxidant ascorbic acid. Besides, the phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and total antioxidant capacity of the methanol extract were found to be 139.75 ± 2.33 mg/g of dried extract (GAE), 139.66 ± 3.56 mg/g of dried extract (QE), and 224.28 ± 4.21 mg/g of dried extract (AAE). Therefore, it is anticipated that the large amount of phenolic and flavoinoids typed compounds contained in the methanol extract played a strong role in antioxidant action of this extract. Therefore, Malva verticillata could be used as a source of naturally occurring potent antioxidants. However, it is very important to find out the specific chemical constituents responsible for potent antioxidant activity of Malva verticillata.
