Short Communication

In vitro evaluation of peroxyl radical scavenging capacity of water extract/fractions of Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. Ex Del

Rajbir Singh and Saroj Arora*

Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143005, Punjab India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: jrosh1@rediffmail.com.

Accepted 12 October, 2006

The present study was planned to confirm the peroxyl radical scavenging capacity of water extract/fractions of Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. Ex Del. in lipid peroxidation assay and results were compared with standard antioxidant (butylated hydroxytoluene). The bark powder of the plant was extracted with different solvents of increasing and decreasing polarity by maceration extraction method and then the water extract was further partitioned with ethyl acetate and water. The scavenging activity of extract was found to increased on fractionating the extract.

Key words: Acacia nilotica, lipid peroxidation, peroxyl radicals, phytochemicals.