Pharmacognostic and Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Ampelocissus indica including Antioxidant Activity

Ampelocissus indica is tuberous plant. It has many reported traditional uses like used for dyspepsia, gout, health tonic, ulcer, indigestion, hepatitis etc. Present study focuses on standardisation of Ampelocissus indica on the basis of morphological, microscopical, physical evaluation, phytochemical investigation and antioxidant activity. From preliminary phytochemical screening it is found that methanolic extract of Ampelocissus indica is having many important phytoconstituents like alkaloids, flavonoids, phytosterols, tannins, phenolic compounds and carbohydrates. The antioxidant activity was estimated by using 2, 2- diphenyl-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical assay. And it is found that Ampelocissus indica is having strong antioxidant activity. Total phenolic content was measured by Folin-Ciocalteau (FC) by using Tannic acid as the calibration standard. In the DPPH radical scavenging assay, the IC50 value of the extract was found to be 20μg/ml. The total phenolic content was measured by Folin-Ciocalteau was found to be 2.5 for tannic acid. In the present study morphological evaluation, microscopical evaluation, physical evaluation and chemical evaluation is done along with antioxidant studies. These standardization parameters will be helpful for identification of this endangering plant.