Phytochemical screening and in vitro antioxidant activity analysis of leaf and callus extracts of Allophylus serratus (ROXB) KURZ.

Allophylus serratus is an important medicinal plant whose leaves, fruits, roots and stem have been in use in traditional medicines. The present study is aimed to carry out preliminary phytochemical analysis and to determine antioxidant activity of leaf and callus water, methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and petroleum ether extracts of A. serratus. The extracts were subject to various qualitative and quantitative tests for phytochemical analysis. An in vitro antioxidant activity of the extracts was investigated by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS++,(2,2-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiozoline)-6-sulfonic acid) and FRAPS(Ferric reducing/ antioxidant power) assays. The qualitative phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, glycocides, saponins, tannins, and steroids in both leaf and callus extracts. The quantitative analysis result showed higher yields of phenolics (104.73±4.3 mg) followed by flavonoids (69.63±6.35 mg) and soluble tannins (69.59±1.27mg) equivalent gallic acid/g of methanol, ethyl acetate and methanol, respectively. In case of callus extracts, the highest yield is phenols (54.42±6.59gm) followed by flavonoids (39.17±6.35 gm) equivalent gallic acid/g of methanol extracts. The antioxidant activity assays of both leaf and callus extracts demonstrated strong antioxidant activity which could be due to high content of phenolics and flavenoids. The methanol extract showed more antioxidant potential than the other extracts of both leaf and callus but leaf extracts show significant antioxidant activity than the callus extracts. Therefore, both leaf and callus extracts of Allophylus serratus contain phytochemicals that are potential source for antioxidant which suggested that the plant could serve as a source of useful drugs.