Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity in Ethanolic Extracts of Five Curcuma Species

The Zingiberaceae, the largest family in the Zingiberales, comprises nearly 50 genera and 1,000 species and is pantropical, concentrated mainly in the old world, chiefly in Indomalaysia. Members of the family yield spices, dyes, perfumes, medicines and a number of ornamental species are cultivated for their showy flowers. Recently this plant has acquired great importance in the present-day world with its antiaging, anticancer, anti-alzheimer’s diseases, antioxidant, and a variety of other medicinal properties due to its significant potential. The present study aims at comparing the antioxidant activity of five Curcuma species namely Curcuma longa, Curcuma zedoaria, Curcuma angustifolia, Curcuma aromatica and Curcuma amada based on their curcumin and phenol content. In our studying C.longa exhibited the highest antioxidant activity 74.61±0.02% at IC50 value 24μg/ml followed by C.zedoaria (63.27±0.06%), C.angustifolia (58.35±0.06%), C.aromatica (55.38±0.06%) and C.amada (52.61±0.02%). Antioxidant activity in four species except C.angustifolia has strong correlation with curcumin and phenol content. However C.angustifolia may be active due to high aromatic oil content like eugenol, palmitic and camphor etc. The natural oxides of curcuma species can be explained in the field of pharmaceutical areas for their uses in modern health care as phytoprotectants.