Antioxidant & Phytochemical Investigations of Ethanolic extracts of Viola serpens & Morus nigra

This study investigates the influence of extraction system on the extractability of phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts of Viola serpens & Morus nigra. It can be concluded that the solvent used affects significantly the phytochemical content and the antioxidant activity of the extract and therefore it is recommended to use more than one extraction system for better assessment of the antioxidant activity of natural products. Several of the investigated herbs contain substantial amounts of free radical scavengers and can serve as a potential source of natural antioxidants for medicinal and commercial uses. The phytochemical screening of ethanolic extract of M.nigra showed the the presence of tannins and terpenoids where as alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, amino acids, reducing sugars and glycosides were absent. Ethanolic extract of V.serpens showed the absence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, terpenoids and glycosides, flavonoids amino acids and reducing sugars.The antioxidant screening of ethanolic extract of both plants showed the presence of enzymatic antioxidants such as catalase, peroxidase and ascorbate oxidase and nonenzymatic antioxidant such as ascorbic acid.Present study revealed that out of two working plants V.serpens is more effective in its medicinal value.