Total phenolic, flavonoids and tannin contents in different extracts of Artemisia absinthium

The A. absinthiumiscommonly is commonly known as wormwood having antipyretic, antimicrobial, antifungal, diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties. Natural bioactive compounds like phenols and flavonoids are the important secondary metabolites in plant posses high scavenging ability of free radical and reactive oxygen species produced in mammals. To maximize these agents in the extract different solvents viz. aqueous, ethanolic and chloroform are used for the extraction procedure (among these different extractions). Current study was aimed to determine the levels of total phenolic, flavonoids and tannin contents. Observations suggested that ethanolic extract has significantly high (P< 0.05) concentration of flavonoids, phenolic and tannin contents as compared to aqueous and chloroform extracts. Therefore, ethanolic extract of A. absinthium has greater potential to scavenge free radicals/ROS and can produce more beneficial effects as compared to aqueous and chloroform extracts. (C) 2012 GESDAV