Phytochemical screening, GC-MS profiling and in vitro antioxidant activity of leaves of Dysoxylum malabaricum Bedd. ex C. DC.

Plants are a rich source of phytocompounds, have remained an integral part of traditional medicine and serve as alternatives to modern medical treatments. They are powerful sources of antioxidants and the bioactive compounds in plants are associated with a wide range of pharmacological activities. Dysoxylum malabaricum is a species of medium to large-sized trees from the Meliaceae family that is widely found in the Southern Western Ghats and its bark and fruits are used in traditional medicine. Even though it is widely used as ethnomedicinal plant, limited research has been done on its phytochemical constituents, especially the phytocompounds present in the leaves. Therefore, this study aims to extensively explore and identify the phytocompounds and bioactive elements found in the leaf extracts of D. malabaricum. Extract was prepared from leaves of D. malabaricum using soxhlet extraction method in different solvents (methanol, water and chloroform). Quantitative estimation of phytochemicals and in vitro antioxidant assays were carried out, followed by chemical profiling of the extracts using GC-MS, which revealed the presence of many important secondary bioactive compounds. The methanolic extract showed a higher concentration of phenolics (67.88 ± 0.26 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (57.55 ± 0.23 mg QE/g) when compared to aqueous and chloroform extracts. The methanolic extract also demonstrated remarkable DPPH scavenging (with IC50 value 32.45 ± 0.22 µg/mL) and ferric reduction activities. The results demonstrate that D. malabaricum is an effective source of bioactive and antioxidant compounds.