Preliminary phytochemical screening, quantitative estimation and in-vitro antioxidant activity of Anamirta cocculus (L) fruits

Abstract

Traditional herbal medicines are relatively safer than synthetic or chemically developed drugs. The traditional medicinal performance is very precious for the object that comes from thousands of years of experimental and blunder. Plant-based traditional knowledge has become an organized tool in the exploration for new sources of drugs and innovative chemical entity thus producing the basis of recent medicine and therapeutics (Raji et al, 2014). According to the World Health Organization, about 80% of the world's rural population currently relies on medicinal plants as their complementary or alternative source of health care improved efficacy (Chan, 2003). Nowadays the use of herbal plants is growing all over the world for the treatment of various diseases, due to their potential antioxidant activities. It is generally understood that oxidative stress generates a large number of reactive oxygen species / free radicals, which play a significant role in the pathophysiology of many diseases, including inflammatory disorders. Oxidative stress is produced when there is inequality among the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and the number of cellular antioxidants that can lead to multiple reactions causing damage or death of cells (Shebis et al., 2013). An