Antioxidant Activities of Some Wild Vegetables of North-eastern Region in India and Effect of Solvent Extraction System

The antioxidant activities of seven wild edible plants e.g. Allium schoenoprasum, Carica papaya, Neptunia oleracea, Eurya acuminata, Hodgsonia heteroclita, Brassica nigra and Flacourtia jangomas collected from Meghalaya state in India were studied by assessing 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, reducing power ability, estimation of total phenolic content, flavonoid content and flavonol content, using different solvent extraction system. The solvents used for extracting active components from plant were benzene, chloroform, acetone and methanol. The different levels of antioxidant activities were found in the solvent systems used. The results indicate that these wild edible vegetables can be utilized as natural antioxidant. These findings are also important for providing evidence that the studied plants might be the potential sources of nutritional and medicinal agents.