Phytochemical analysis and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts of rivina humilis L.

Rivina humilis L. is a herbaceous plants commonly found in wastelands of gardens and plains. In the present study, preliminary phytochemical screening and in vitro antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanolic leaf extracts of Rivina humilis was investigated. Phytochemical analysis of the leaf extracts of R. humilis revealed the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, alkaloids, quinones, terpenoids, coumarins, steroids, tannins, saponins and cardiac glycosides. The results showed that the phytochemical properties of the leaves can be used for curing various diseases. The strongest radical scavenging activity (60.13%) was exhibited by the methanolic extract, moderate activity (44-45%) was recorded in chloroform extract and weakest activity (20.06%) was exhibited by the ethyl acetate extract. The IC50 value of ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanolic extracts were found to be 432.78, 173.93 and 61.74 μl/L respectively. The results showed that the methanolic extract at 200 μg has higher total flavonoid content and 200 μg of methanolic extracts showed higher of total tannin content. The data obtained in the present study suggests that the extracts of R. humilis leaves have potent antioxidant activity against free radicals with the presence of active phytochemicals that can be used in disease prevention.