Determination of Polyphenolic Content and In-vitro Antioxidant Capacity of the Leaves of Lagenaria siceraria (mol.) standl

The leaves of Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd), belonging to the family cucurbitaceae being used for the treatment of jaundice and also claimed to be effective in many other diseases. The present research work was under taken to investigate the in-vitro antioxidantactivity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts. The free radicals are capable of independent existence and cause oxidative tissue damage. The therapeutic effects of tannins and flavonoids can be largely attributed to their antioxidant properties. So that the quantitative determinations were undertaken, the total Phenolic content of aqueous and ethanolic extracts showed the content values of 3.75±0.22% w/w and 22.12±1.23%w/w respectively and total flavonoids estimation of aqueous and ethanolic extract showed the content values of 1.33±0.08%w/w and 3.61± 0.32%w/w respectively .Further investigation were carried out for In-vitro antioxidantactivity and Radical scavenging assay by calculating its %inhibition by means of IC50 values (it is nothing but inhibition concentration to obtain 50% of maximum scavenging capacity),all the extracts concentration has been adjusted to come under the linearity range and here many reference standards like Tannic acid, Gallic acid, Quercetin, Ascorbic acid have been taken for the method suitability. The results revealed that the leaves of this plant have antioxidant potential. Among these results ethanolic extract has more potent than traditionally claiming aqueous decoction. In conclusion that Lagenaria siceraria leaves possesses the antioxidant substance which may be potential responsible for the treatment of jaundice and other oxidative stress related diseases.