Studies on medicinal plants/herbs with high
phenolic contents have gained importance over
the past few years due to the high antioxidant[16]
,
anti-inflammatory[24] and anti-carcinogenic
activities [16] and are of great value in decreasing
the risk of many human diseases.
The antioxidative activities observed can be
attributed to either the different mechanisms
exhibited by different polyphenolic compounds
that is, tocopherols, flavonoids and other organic
acids and to the synergistic effects of different
compounds. Many studies have shown that many
polyphenols contribute significantly to the
antioxidant activity[25,26] and act as highly
effective free radical scavengers which is mainly
due to their redox properties, which can play an
important role in adsorbing and neutralizing free
radicals, quenching singlet and triplet oxygen or
decomposing peroxides[27].
There are no report on antioxidant activity of
Olax psittacorum and phenolic content of
commelina benghalensis earlier. Leucas aspera of
Assam district in India exhibit antioxidant
property with IC50 value of 54.78 µg/ml with a
phenol content of 45.30 mg / g dry extract[28]
.
Iron chelating activity and total antioxidant
activity has been investigated in Bauhinia
purpurea[29]
but the DPPH free radical