Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of selected polyherbal preparations: Oroki herbal, Swedish bitters and Yoyo bitters

Abstract

Objective: Polyherbal preparations are extracts obtained from different medicinal plants. These herbal preparations are orally administered as therapy against numerous oxidative stress and inflammation mediated diseases. This study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Oroki herbal, Swedish bitters and Yoyo bitters using in vitro models. Methods: Antioxidant studies were carried out using total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 1’1’-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays while anti-inflammatory studies were performed using human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilization and anti-denaturation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) assays. Results: Data showed that Oroki herbal had the highest TAC, inhibition of TBARS, FRAP absorbance range, DPPH scavenging activity while Swedish bitters had the highest stabilization of hypotonicity-induced hemolysis of HRBC and inhibition of heat-induced BSA denaturation when compared with other herbal preparations. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that Oroki herbal exhibited the highest antioxidant activity while Swedish bitters had the highest anti-inflammatory property in vitro. Furthermore, the medicinal properties of these polyherbal preparations could be attributed to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities that could mitigate against oxidative stress and inflammation mediated diseases.