ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY IN SOLVENT AND COOKED EXTRACTS OF TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS L. FRUIT
This study aimed to investigate possible antioxidant activity of various solvent extract of Tribulus terrestris fruit. As plants are source of natural antioxidants, much concentration has been given to plants. A variety of free radical scavenging antioxidants exists within the body in which many of them are derived from dietary sources like fruits, vegetables, etc. Tribulus terrestris L. fruit extract has an ancient tradition in folk medicine and in ayurveda as a diuretic, antiseptic, mood enhancer and anti-inflammatory agent. Though already few studies are available on antioxidative properties of Tribulus terrestris, yet no research has explored what happens to boiled or cooked extract of the sample. This was conceptualized in the present study with the hypothesis whether the extract can be incorporated into foods rather than as medicine. The explored items include: DPPH radical-scavenging activities, Superoxide scavenging activity, Nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity and Hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity. The findings from the present study suggested that apart from ethanol, methanol and aqueous extracts the cooked Tribulus terrestris fruit extract might be an agent with anticancer anti-inflammatory potentials and should be further explored clinically