Potential in vitro antioxidant and protective effects of Mesua ferrea Linn. bark extracts on induced oxidative damage

•Aerobic metabolic pathway of the human body normally leads to engender ROS.•ROS extensively cause the oxidative damage to the cellular biomolecules.•Antioxidants molecules scavenge free radicals before they attack biologically vital molecules.•Natural antioxidants have become one of the major areas of scientific research.•Chloroform and ethanol extracts of Mesua ferrea showed significant in vitro antioxidant activity.

Free radicals and activated oxygen radical species are generated as a result of aerobic metabolism. Imbalance, if any in the antioxidant defense system against free radicals can degrade biomolecules inside the living system. In this present study, antioxidant arbitrated protective activity of Mesua ferrea L. is reported on induced oxidative damage in erythrocytes, Hb and DNA. Both, MCE (M. ferrea chloroform extract) and MEE (M. ferrea ethanol extract) exhibited significant antioxidant activity while MEE showed >90% protection to erythrocytes, Hb and DNA by virtue of high total phenolics (1.005 ± 0.005 mg EGA mg−1) and total flavonoids (514.8 μg mg−1) whereas MCE showed <90% but >70% antioxidant protective activity probably due to 0.596 ± 0.002 mg EGA mg−1 total phenolics and 275.9 μg EQ mg−1 total flavonoid content. It indicates that M. ferrea Linn. possesses significant protective activity against induced oxidative stress by acting as a strong antioxidant and potential electro-catalyst during the electrochemical oxidation of H2O2. Furthermore, HPLC of MCE and MEE revealed well known various good antioxidant molecules such as gallic acid, ellagic acid, coumaric acid, vanillic acid, rutin, quercetin, myricetin and kaempferol. Thus, M. ferrea Linn. bark was found to be having a good antioxidant property.

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