| dc.description.abstract | There are large number of both reported
clinical studies and unreported ethnobotanical
approaches related to herbal medicine with beneficial
effects. However, the effectiveness of the decoctions
depends on the method of its preparation basically from
lyophilized and fresh plant materials which the traditional
medical practitioners got to know from their experience.
Thus, this study was carried out with the main objective
of determining the effectiveness of antioxidant activity of
freshly prepared (FHD) and lyophilized decoctions (LHD)
of herbal plants, using to treat cancers in Sri Lankan
ayurvedic medicine. Leaves of Annona muricata, Coleus
amboinicus, flowers of Malvaviscus penduliflorus, leaves
of Munronia pinnata, whole plant of Rauvolfia serpentia,
Vernonia cinerea were used to prepare aqueous extracts
of FHD and LHD. They were subjected to 2,2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. LHDs
were subjected to ferric ion reducing antioxidant power
(FRAP) assay and the total phenolics content (TPC) was
determined using Folin Deni’s method. The DPPH radical
scavenging activities of LHDs were significantly higher
(p<0.05) than that of the FHDs. The decreasing order of
EC50 for DPPH radical scavenging activity of plant extracts
was C.amboinicus > A.muricata L. > M.penduliflorus >
R.serpentia > M.pinnata > V.cinerea roots > V.cinerea
aerial parts. The same order was obtained for the FRAP
assay. There was no significant difference between the
TPC of A.muricata, M.penduliflorus, M.pinnata, and
R.serpentia L. and also between the aerial parts and the
roots of V. cinerea. According to the results obtained, it
could be concluded that using LHDs are more effective
than using the FHDs in the generation of free radicals
which the ultimate objective in cancer treatments. | |
