Antioxidant Availabiltiy of Beheda (Terminalia bellerica (Roxb.)) in Relation to its Medicinal Uses

Oxidative stress arises from an imbalance in the generation and metabolisms of ROS, with more of ROS being produced, than that is metabolized. Oxidative stress plays a significant pathological role in human diseases. However, the antioxidant supplements may be used to help the human body to reduce oxidative damage. Therefore the present study evaluated the antioxidant activity of Terminalia bellerica (Gertn.) Roxb. fruits. The study was designed to evaluate and compare the antioxidant activity, total phenolics, flavonoids content of aqueous (AETB) and ethanolic (EETB) extracts of fruits. The antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-1,2-picryl hydrazyl), ABTS (2,2-Azino-bis 3-ethyl benothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid diammonium salt), nitric oxide, superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging assay, FRAP (Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power), reducing power and TAC (Total antioxidant capacity). AETB has shown higher antioxidant activity (% inhibition) as compared to EETB in nitric oxide, superoxide, ABTS(2,2-Azino-bis 3-ethyl benothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid diammonium salt) radical scavenging assay with IC50 values 41.42±1.23, 892.85±2.73, 23.74±2.0 in AETB and 93.16±1.93, 3496.50±5.21, 55.89±2.21 in EETB respectively. Like antioxidant activity the reducing power increases in a dose dependent manner showing higher absorbance at 700 nm for AETB i.e. 0.95±0.03 as compared to EETB i.e. 0.43±0.01 at 500μg/ml. The FRAP values were found for AETB 1.68±0.07, EETB 1.06±0.03 and TAC values were found for AETB 2.53±0.07 and EETB 2.90±0.01. The amounts of total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) were also determined. The results suggest that TPC and TFC contribute significantly to the antioxidant activity of the Terminalia bellerica (Gertn.) Roxb. Fruits.