Abstract

Background: Madhuca longifolia has historically been used to treat various diseases in India but there is still limited study of different parts of this plant. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the phytochemicals, the total flavonoid and total phenolic material, as well as the antioxidant activity of Madhuca longifolia ethanolic root, stem, leaf and seed extract. Methods: Using 70 percent ethanol as the solvent for 2 h, each part of the plant was extracted by reflux and repeated 3 times. The total flavonoid content was determined by a colorimetric assay of aluminium chloride at 415 nm. The total phenolic content was calculated using a micro-plate reader with Folin-Ciocalteu 1:4 at 765 nm. Using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenger technique, antioxidant activity was calculated. Results: Phytochemical screening has shown that flavonoids and saponin are present in all samples. The total content of flavonoids was highest in leaves and lowest in roots, while the total content of phenols was highest in leaves and lowest in seed kernels. The crude extracts showed the highest value of DPPH free radical scavenging activity in leaf extract, followed by root, stem and seed kernel. Conclusion: The 70 percent ethanol leaf extract of Madhuca longifolia showed the highest yield, total flavonoid content and total phenolic content. In addition, leaf extract has the highest activity of DPPH free radical scavenging (75.802 μg/ml), which may be correlated with its higher phenolic content.