EVALUATION OF DEHYDRATED MUKIA MADERASPATANA LEAVES AS A POTENT SOURCE OF DIETARY ANTIOXIDANTS

Green leafy vegetables are the most underexploited class of vegetables despite high nutritional value. The current study has been focused on the evaluation of anti-oxidant status of fresh and dehydrated under- utilized green leafy vegetable namely Mukia maderaspatana (L.) (Family: Cucurbitaceae), an indigenous plant; traditionally it is used as an ingredient of various cocktail preparations for the management of severe inflammatory disorders in Indian system of medicine. The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total antioxidant activities were evaluated for the ethanolic extract of leaves to assess the in vitro antioxidant activities. The results showed that there exist a linear correlation between polyphenol content and antioxidant property. The ethanolic extract of dehydrated Mukia leaves showed the highest phenolic content (269.34 ± 0.78mg GAE/g), and total antioxidant activity (543±46 µmol Trolox/100 g). HPTLC analysis has revealed the presence of significant quantity of Quercitin (26.52%), an important flavonoid of tremendous antioxidant, anticancer and ant inflammatory properties in both the fresh and dehydrated leaves which might be the chief bioactive principle in Mukia.