Variation in Antioxidant Activity and Antioxidant Constituents of Ocimum basilicum Linn with the Maturity of Plant Grown in Open Field and Inside Polyhouse Conditions

The variation in antioxidant activity and antioxidant constituents of different plant growth stages i.e. in every 15 day’s interval till maturity of plant of Ocimum basilicum Linn. grown in an open field and inside polyhouse conditions was studied. The correlation between antioxidant constituents and antioxidant activities was also studied. The result revealed that the 90 days old plant grown in an open field condition exhibited maximum antioxidant activity with the lowest IC50/EC50 value by ABTS (0.064 mg/ml), DPPH (0.090 mg/ml), and FRAP (0.099 mg/ml) followed by 75 days and 60 days old plants, similar pattern was also observed in their antioxidant constituents. Similarly, the 90 days old plant grown inside polyhouse condition showed maximum antioxidant activity with antioxidant constituents followed by other plant growth stages in descending order. The chlorophyll content was found maximum in 15 days old plant(0.926 mg/100g) grown in an open field condition, whereas the maximum chlorophyll content (1.470 mg/100g) exhibited by 90 days old plant grown inside polyhouse condition. The correlation analysis revealed that the antioxidant constituents exhibited a significant negative correlation with the IC50/EC50 value and the IC50 value of ABTS assay had a significantly positive correlation with the IC50 and EC50 value of DPPH and FRAP assay, respectively. Hence, the study revealed that the leaves extract of plant grown in open field conditions possesses a significantly higher antioxidant activity and antioxidant constituents than the plant grown inside polyhouse condition.