Antioxidant Activity of Ingredients of Mathumeha Chooranam and Mathumeha Chooranam used in Mathumeham (Dibetes mellitus)

Abstract

In the Siddha system of Medicine, various 'chooranams' are used to treat 'Mathumeham' (Diabetic mellitus). 'Mathumeha chooranam' is prepared from Terminalia chebula, Phyllanthu sembelica, Murrya keonigii, and Gymnema sylvestrae. This 'chooranam' is widely used in North and Eastern Province of Sri Lanka Siddha Hospitals and Dispensaries. The Objective of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity of the 'Mathumeha chooranam' and its ingredients. The cold and hot water extracts (10mg in 10ml) of the dry powders of the skin of the seeds of Terminalia chebula, unriped fruits of Phyllanthus embelica, leaves of Murrya keonigii and Gymnema sylvestrae, and 'Mathumeha chooranam' were tested for their Total Antioxidant Content (TAC) by measuring Ferric Reduction method. Among the 'mathumeha chooranam' and its four ingredients, Terminalia chebula contained the highest TAC in cold as well as in hot extracts [10.13 (±3.1) and 12.83 (±2.4) ?g/mg of dry weight respectively followed by 'Mathumeha chooranam' [4.6 (±1.16) and 5.6 (±0.91) ?g/mg of dry weight respectively, Phylanthus emblica [4.38 (±1.72) and 6.3 (±2.05) ?g/mg of dry weight respectively , Murryake onigii [0.506 (±0.372) and 0.696 (±0.336) ?g/mg of dry weight respectively and Gymnema sylvestrae [0.359 (±0.262) and (0.759 (±0.665) ?g/mg of dry weight respectively. The cold and hot aqueous extracts of the dried powder of the ingredients of the 'mathumeha chooranam' and its ingredients contains antioxidant activity. When compared with the cold extracts of 'Mathumeha chooranam' and its ingredients with hot extracts, hot extracts contained higher antioxidant activity than cold extracts.