DPPH Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Myristica fragrans Houtt. Fruit

Myristica fragrans Houtt. of family Myristicaceae is commonly known as nutmeg (Jaiphal in Gujarati). Various parts of tree has been used in traditional folkloric medicine. The present study was concentrated on the in-vitro antioxidant methods like DPPH free radical assays. The methanolic extract of Myristica fragrans Houtt. fruit was subjected to the DPPH method. The results of antioxidant activity revealed that, the methanolic extract shows good IC50 values. The results were compared with the standard ascorbic acid. The plant contains flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and tannins. These active constituents alone or in combination may be responsible for the observed antioxidant activity. *Nikisha Purohit, and** Hitesh Solanki *Research Student, ** Professor of Botany, Department of Botany, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad – 380 009, India. Submission: 29 September 2015 Accepted: 3 October 2015 Published: 25 October 2015 www.ijppr. humanjournals.com Citation: Nikisha Purohit et al. Ijppr.Human, 2015; Vol. 4 (3): 45-50. 46 INTRODUCTION Natural antioxidants, particularly in fruits and vegetables have gained increasing interest among consumers and the scientific community because epidemiological studies have indicated that frequent consumption of natural antioxidants is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer (Renaud et al., 1998; Temple, 2000). Herbal plants are known to contain a variety of antioxidants. Numerous substances have been suggested to serve as antioxidants. It has been revealed that various phenolic antioxidants, such as flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, xanthones and more recently procyanidins scavenge radicals dose-dependently, thus they are viewed as promising therapeutic drugs for free radical pathologies. (Halliwell et al., 1998; Azam et al., 2004). Myristica fragrans Houtt. is an evergreen tree, native of the Moluccas (or Spice Islands) of Indonesia and cultivated throughout Malaya. The seed of the plant is known as “nutmeg” and the arillus of the seed is called “mace”. Both nutmeg and mace contain many volatile oils. These oil constituents have a variety of individual pharmacological effects, some of which oppose others (Jellin et al; 2005). The fruit contains ethereal oil-cells often with phenolic and myristicin; the seed and the aril are used for flavouring food. Of the 72 species of Myristica fragrans of global level distribution, five species are reported in South India (Gamble, 1921). Nutmeg also contains fat or butter that has applications in pharmaceutical preparations. Sabinene, myristican, safrole and elemicin constitute 80% of both these oils. The West Indian oils (oils from nutmeg cultivated in Grenada) have considerable amounts of α -pinene, βpinene and sbinene (40%-50%) and are low in safrole and myristicin, whereas East Indian oils (oils from nutmeg cultivated in Indonesia and other regions in South East Asia) have higher amounts of myritican (Purseglove et al., 1981; Maya et al., 2004). Nutmeg, mace and their oils are mostly used with fresh foods like cakes, biscuits, doughnuts, fruit pies, egg nog and puddings to give them a delicate smooth flavor. The oil is used in canned soups and stews, and has an important application in neutralizing the unpleasant odor of cooked Cabbage. The present work was undertaken to evaluate nutmeg germplasm for chemical composition and to shortlists accessions suitable for the nutrient industry. www.ijppr. humanjournals.com Citation: Nikisha Purohit et al. Ijppr.Human, 2015; Vol. 4 (3): 45-50. 47 MATERIALS AND METHODS