Assessment of in vitro antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of Cajanus cajan

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities of 70% methanolic extract of Cajanus cajan leaves using various in vitro assays. The TEAC value 0.84 ± 0.05 for the extract indicates it is an antioxidant. The extract had shown its scavenging activity for different free radicals and 175.73 ± 7.50 μg/ml, 27.17 ± 0.9 μg/ml, 60.78 ± 5.15 μg/ml and 250.29 ± 5.70 μg/ml were determined as the IC50 values for hydroxyl, superoxide, nitric oxide and singlet oxygen radicals, respectively. The sample showed reasonable chelation of Fe2+ ion and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. The phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extract were also determined to be 51.33 ± 0.002 mg/ml gallic acid equivalent and 143.0 ± 0.003 mg/ml quercetin equivalent, respectively. The results showed that 70% methanol extract of C. cajan leaves possesses antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties.