Determination of Total Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Activity of the Roots of Pimpinella candolleana Wight & Arnott

Pimpinella candolleana Wight & Arnott belonging to family Apiaceae is a valuable medicinal plant. The plant specimens were collected from Pindaya Township, Southern Shan State in July 2014. The total phenolic contents in the aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the roots of Pimpinella candolleana Wight & Arnott were determined at Food and Drug Administration Department, Mandalay by Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method using gallic acid as the standard. The antioxidant activity of the different concentrations (100 µg/ml, 200 µg/ml, 300 µg/ml, 400 µg/ml and 500 µg/ml) of three extracts was evaluated at Department of Medical Research (Pyin Oo Lwin Branch) by DPPH free radical scavenging method. The total phenolic contents of aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extracts of roots were 83.63 mg GAE/g extract, 93.87 mg GAE/g extract and 118.85 mg GAE/g extract, respectively. The IC50 values of aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extracts were 69.183 µg/ml, 63.096 µg/ml and 31.622 µg/ml, respectively. The results showed that there is a positive correlation between free radical scavenging effect and total phenolic contents. Thus, this study scientifically proved that this resource sample is rich in total phenolic contents and significantly has antioxidant activity.