In Vitro Antioxidant Activity Of Methanolic Extract Of Rhodiola Imbricata Edgew

Rhodiola imbricata (Roseroot) is a perennial plant distributed in South Asia viz., Pakistan, Nepal, China and India. In India it is endemic to Trans Himalayan cold desert of Ladakh. It is a well known medicinal plant in the Amchi system of medicine (Tibetan system of medicine) being used in various ailments like anti-stress, radio-protective, anticancer, anti-inflammatory agent, adaptogen etc. The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro potential of methanol extract of Rhodiola imbricata roots. The DPPH activity of the extract (0.1-1.2 mg/ml) was increased in a dose dependent manner, which was found in the range of (39.55-70.76%) as compared to ascorbic acid (46.78-81.47%). The IC50 values of methanol extract in DPPH radical, nitric oxide, hydroxyl radical were obtained to be 0.33, 0.47, 0.58 mg/ml, respectively. However, the IC50 values for the standard ascorbic acid were noted to be 0.42, 0.43, 0.51 mg/ml, respectively. Measurement of total phenolic content of the methanol extract of R. imbricata was achieved using Folin-Ciocalteau reagent containing 185.7 mg/g of phenolic content, which was found significantly higher when compared to reference standard gallic acid. The results obtained in this study clearly indicate that R. imbricata has a significant potential to use as a natural anti-oxidant agent.