Phytochemical and Antioxidant Activities of Some Selected Medicinal Plants of Family Asteraceae

The phytochemical and antioxidant activities were carried out on stem and leaf extract of Eclipta alba L., Echinops echinatus Roxb. and Tagetes minuta L. of family Asteraceae. These plants were collected from natural habitats, dried under shade and then macerated. The maceration was carried out using polar and non-polar solvents, i.e., chloroform, methanol, petroleum ether and distilled water. The results of phytochemical test indicated that some phytochemicals were present, e.g. alkaloid, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, glycoside, tannins, flavonoids and also cardiac glycosides in sufficient amount. The antioxidant activity was carried by applying five different methods, i.e., Free radical scavenging activity by DPPH method, FRAP assay, the total antioxidant activity by Phosphomolybdenum method and total phenolic content (TPC). The highest antioxidant value showed by DPPH in E. alba leaves in chloroform extract, i.e., 94.12 +/- 0.01 and chloroform extract of stem of E. alba possesses highest absorbance, i.e., 82.46 +/- 0.10. In T. minuta maximum value was indicated by methanolic extract of leaf, i.e., 89.29 +/- 0.21 and in stem the highest value was exposed by the methanolic extract (71.38 +/- 0.35). The highest value of FRAP assay was depicted by methanolic extract of stem of E. alba, which is 170.17 +/- 0.29. While the E. echinatus maximum value of FRAP was indicated by petroleum ether extract of stem, i.e., 237.06 +/- 0.53. The aqueous extract of stem showed the maximum FRAP value, which is 182.40 +/- 0.54 in T.minuta. Thus, it can be concluded on the basis of results that these plants have strong curative potential against chronic diseases and can be used as good natural source of phytochemical and antioxidant compounds after further investigation.