Comparison of total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant activity of various crude extracts of Hyoscyamus gallagheri traditionally used for the treatment of epilepsy

Background Most of the locally available medicinal plant is used as medicine through different ways since the ancient time. Hyoscyamus gallagheri ( H. gallagheri ) is one of the rare medicinal plant which is indigenous to Oman as well as Gulf countries. The main target of this study is to estimate the total phenols and flavonoids content and evaluate the antioxidant activities of the aerial parts extracts which were collected from the southern part of Oman. Methods Initially, the powder of aerial parts of the selected plant was extracted with a polar solvent. The prepare extract was the successive fractionation by different polarities of solvents. All the extracts were used for the estimation of total phenols and flavonoids content by common Folin–Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) and calorimetric methods. In addition, the extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activity by spectroscopic technique through α,α-diphenyl-picrylhadrazyl (DPPH) method. Results In the present experiment, the ethyl acetate extract contains the highest amount of phenols and the lowest in hexane extract. However, the highest amount of flavonoids was obtained from butanol extracts and the lowest in water aerial extract. In addition, the highest antioxidant activity showed in the ethyl acetate aerial extract and the lowest was in the hexane aerial extract. The other aerial extracts also showed the similar antioxidant activity comparable to Gallic acid standard. Conclusion It was also observed that there is a significant correlation between the antioxidant and total phenols. Therefore, the best activity aerial extract might be used for the treatment of human diseases in near future.