title: Estimation of total phenolic content, in-vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of flowers of Moringa oleifera.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and compare the antioxidant potential and anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic extract of flowers of Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) grown in Oman.
  
  
  METHODS
  Flowers of M. oleifera were collected in the month of December 2012 and identified by a botanist. Alcoholic extract of the dry pulverized flowers of M. oleifera were obtained by cold maceration method. The ethanolic flower extract was subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening as the reported methods. Folin-Ciocalteu reagent was used to estimate total phenolic content. DPPH was used to determine in-vitro antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity of flowers was investigated by protein denaturation method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Phytochemical analysis of extract showed presence of major classes of phytochemicals such as tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides etc. M. oleifera flowers were found to contain 19.31 mg/g of gallic acid equivalent of total phenolics in dry extract but exhibited moderate antioxidant activity. The anti-inflammatory activity of plant extract was significant and comparable with the standard drug diclofenac sodium.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study suggest that flowers of M. oleifera possess potent anti-inflammatory activity and are also a good source of natural antioxidants. Further study is needed to identify the chemical compounds responsible for their anti-inflammatory activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Oman Medical College, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alhakmani
authors.forename: Sokindra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Shah Alam
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000378:metabolism*; D029588:Moringa oleifera / Q000737:chemistry*; D009850:Oman; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism*; D010851:Picrates / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D010636:Phenols; D010851:Picrates; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010940:Plant Proteins; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl
keywords: Anti-inflammatory activity; Antioxidant; DPPH; Total phenolic content
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