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Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro potential of ethanolic leaf extract
of Stevia rebaudiana as a natural antioxidant. The DPPH activity of the extract (20,
40, 50, 100 and 200 microg/ml) was increased in a dose dependent manner, which was
found in the range of 36.93-68.76% as compared to ascorbic acid 64.26-82.58%. The
IC(50) values of ethanolic extract and ascorbic acid in DPPH radical scavenging assay
were obtained to be 93.46 and 26.75 microg/ml, respectively. The ethanolic extract
was also found to scavenge the superoxide generated by EDTA/NBT system. Measurement
of total phenolic content of the ethanolic extract of S. rebaudiana was achieved using
Folin-Ciocalteau reagent containing 61.50 mg/g of phenolic content, which was found
significantly higher when compared to reference standard gallic acid. The ethanolic
extract also inhibited the hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, superoxide anions with
IC(50) values of 93.46, 132.05 and 81.08 microg/ml, respectively. However, the IC(50)
values for the standard ascorbic acid were noted to be 26.75, 66.01 and 71.41 microg/ml
respectively. The results obtained in this study clearly indicate that S. rebaudiana
has a significant potential to use as a natural antioxidant agent.