Evaluation of antioxidants potential of Calendula officinalis leaves extracts against DPPH

The plant Calendula officinalis belongs to the Asteraceae family commonly known as Pot marigold is widely used due to its medicinal properties which are mainly dermatological, ornamentals and antioxidant. It is an annual plant that has been traditionally used in folk medicine as a remedy to treat various illness, mainly dermatological diseases. In this study leaves of Calendula officinalis were evaluated for their phytochemical, chromatographical and antioxidant potential against DPPH.The leaves of Calendula officinalis were extracted by maceration method using a different polar and non-polar solvents such as n-hexane (non-polar) and methanol (polar) solvents. Phytochemicals analysis of Calendula officinalis leaves extracts specially targeting antioxidant compounds such as phenol, tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, quinones and flavonoids. From the analysis it was shown the maximum presence of flavonoids, saponins and alkaloids in the methanolic extract of C. officinalis leaves followed by the n-Hexane extract, which was rich in saponin, flavonoids, phenols and tannins. Calendula officinalis is one of the plants that rich in flavonoids. After that partial purification of leaves extract of the plant was done by thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis, which resulted in the appearance of distinct bands corresponding to presence of flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins. Further antioxidant analysis by DPPH Assay revealed the potential of this plant as a potent antioxidant agent, which scavenge the DPPH free radical at very low concentration. DPPH analysis showed that at 80 g/mL concentration C. officinalis is reduced almost 65% of DPPH in methanolic extract followed by the hexane extract which showed the maximum inhibition at quite high concentration. This suggests the potential of C. officinalis as a rich source of natural metabolites, which can have various biological and pharmacological implications for future analysis of this plant against various ailments.