Duckweed as a Source of Antioxidants for Pharma Applications

Duckweed is the smallest specie of flowering plants belonging to family Lemnaceae. Lemna Minor L. (LM) is a nearly universal aquatic perennial plant that is a member of the family Lemnaceae and genus Lemna. It is used in traditional medicine to cure a variety of conditions, including gout, rheumatism, allergies, asthma, vitiligo, jaundice, and glaucoma. It is a source enhanced with protein. These could yield more biomass that is rich in protein. In some impoverished parts of South Asia, such as Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, duckweed is eaten by people. Their chemical makeup and strong growing capacity make them appropriate for use in applications related to human health. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) comprise free radicals such superoxide anion radicals (O2.-) as well as other radicals. Activated oxygen can take many different forms, including hydroxyl radicals (OH·) and non-free radical species like H2O2 and singlet oxygen (O2). These chemicals are aggravating elements in aging and cellular damage. Antioxidants can slow the progression of many chronic diseases as well as lipid peroxidation. They can also shield the human body from the impacts of free radicals and ROS. The objective of this study is to check antioxidant activity of duckweed. The results of antioxidant studies of duckweed showed that all duckweed extracts have strong free radical scavenging ability, but the free radical scavenging activity of the water extract varied from (21.60±2.09-70.42±3.30%) than methanol extracts (10.27±1.40-37.73±2.60%) and methanol: water extracts (2.64±0.50-16.95±1.15%) at concentrations of 0.2–1.0 mg/ml. According to the findings, duckweed is cheap source of natural antioxidants that can be successfully used in pharmaceutical, food and other fields.