COMPARATIVE FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS AND FREE RADICAL QUENCHING PROPERTIES OF THREE CASSIA SPECIES
Results: The results revealed that C. uniflora had the highest total phenolic content (276.54+ 0.031 ug/ mg DW) followed by C. occidentalis and C. tora, while the highest total flavonoid content (43.71+ 0.086 ug /mg DW) was also recorded to C. uniflora followed by C. tora and C. occidentalis. FTIR screening revealed the presence of various functional groups such as aldehydes, alcohols, carboxylic acid, alkenes, aromatic compounds, esters, nitro compounds and alkyl halides in all the three species. Overall all the species exhibited dose dependent antioxidant activity in tested in vitro models. The antioxidant activity was varied to each species; the highest IC50 values for DPPH (58.55+ 0.213 mg/ml) were depicted in C. occidentalis followed by C. tora and C. uniflora. The prominent IC50 values for ABTS radical scavenging was reported in C. uniflora extract (IC50value of 0.074+ 0.003 mg/ml) followed by C. occidentalis and C. tora (with IC50 values of 24.388+ 0.183 and 29.388+ 0.368 mg/ml equivalent to ascorbic acid) Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that, of the Cassia species evaluated, C. occidentalis exhibited strong activity followed by C. tora and C. uniflora, and can be used as a potent source of natural antioxidants.