Critical Review on the Analytical Mechanistic Steps in the Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity

Electrophysiological systems are prone to release free radicals for functioning of biological system with proper balancing of antioxidant-prooxidant ratio for establishing a healthy living system. The biostress condition releases different reactive oxygen species, such as hydroxyl, alkoxyl, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroperoxyl, ozone, singlet oxygen, hypochlorus acid, thiyl radical, etc. This review tries to discuss the general aspects of the antioxidant assay methodologies that are currently used for the detection of antioxidant property. The entire review has been divided into three different sections. The first deals with the release of free radical by mitochondrial dysfuctioning and its curbing action by local antioxidants. The second and third sections discuss the general procedure adopted and reaction mechanism involved in the assay procedure along with the limitations and advantages.