Evaluation of antioxidant and antimutagenic potential of <i>Justicia adhatoda</i> leaves extract

Abstract

In this study, the ethanolic extract of Justicia adhatoda (Acanthaceae) leaves was prepared by successive extraction procedure in increasing polarity order. Moreover, there are no antimutagenic evaluation reports found. In the present study our aim was to determine the antioxidant and antimutagenic potential of different fractions of ethanolic extract of J. adhatoda. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis revealed the presence of polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids which might be responsible for bioprotective activity. Among the five fractions (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and aqueous), n-butanol and ethyl acetate exhibited significant antioxidant activity with minimum IC₅₀ value (< 105.33 μg/ml) whereas, hexane, chloroform and aqueous fractions exhibits excellent antimutagenic potential against 2-aminofluorine for S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 strains in the presence of S9 mix. These results indicate that these fractions need further research into its potential chemoprevention effects.

Key words: Justicia adhatoda, antioxidant, antimutagenic, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), IC₅₀ value.