title: Antioxidant and phytochemical analysis of Ranunculus arvensis L. extracts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ranunculus arvensis L. (R. arvensis) has long been used to treat a variety of medical conditions such as arthritis, asthma, hay fever, rheumatism, psoriasis, gut diseases and rheumatic pain. Here, we screened R. arvensis for antioxidant activity, phytochemical and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The chloroform, chloroform:methanol, methanol, methanol:acetone, acetone, methanol:water and water extracts of R. arvensis were examined for DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay, hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay, phosphomolybdenum assay, reducing power assay, flavonoid content, phenolic content and high performance liquid chromatography analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant antioxidant activity was displayed by methanol extract (IC 50 34.71 ± 0.02) in DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Total flavonoids and phenolics ranged 0.96-6.0 mg/g of extract calculated as rutin equivalent and 0.48-1.43 mg/g of extract calculated as gallic acid equivalent respectively. Significant value of rutin and caffeic acid was observed via high performance liquid chromatography.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results showed that extracts of R. arvensis exhibited significant antioxidant activities. Moreover, R. arvensis is a rich source of rutin, flavonoids and phenolics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan. zeshan34@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Muhammad Zeeshan
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Bhatti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, School of Life Science, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, People's Republic of China. amjad_486@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Amjad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, 23200, Pakistan. ahdayazb5@awkum.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Ayaz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, 29050, Pakistan. asmasaeed78@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan. samalikqau@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Salman Akbar
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Malik
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000032:analysis*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry; D031947:Ranunculus / Q000737:chemistry; D012997:Solvents
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005419:Flavonoids; D010636:Phenols; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents