ANTIOXIDANT EVALUATION AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF THE LEAVES AND ROOTS EXTRACTS OF ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA (BURM. F.) NEES (ACANTHACEAE)

Andrographis paniculata is a medicinal plant known for a wide range of ethnomedical uses including treatment of ulcer, diabetes, inflammation, infection, fever, etc. This work aims to evaluate the antioxidant potential and phytochemicals of the leaves and roots of Andrographis paniculata. The plant was collected, identified, pulverized, dried, and cold-extracted using 99.5% methanol at room temperature with intermittent shaking for 48 hours. The filtrates were concentrated in a water bath maintained at 50℃ to obtain the crude extracts. The extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening using standard procedures. The extracts were subjected to antioxidant analysis using DPPH assay. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and cardiac glycosides in the leaves extract; while the root extract contained alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides and anthraquinones. The leaf and root extracts exhibited good antioxidant activity in DPPH scavenging assay. The root extract exhibited better antioxidant activity with 50% DPPH inhibition followed by the leaf extract with 46% DPPH inhibition. The antioxidant activity of the leaf and root extracts was lower than that of ascorbic acid, which exhibited 78% inhibition. This work supports the use of Andrographis paniculata leaves and roots in the management of diseases such as fever and flu, liver and kidney problem, infections, etc. due to their phytochemicals and antioxidant activity.