Superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging actions of botanical extracts of Wagatea spicata

Wagatea spicata, candy corn plant, a woody legume shrub, widespread medicinal plant found in Western Chat of India has significant abilities to scavenge highly reactive free radicals. Shade dried leaf, bark and flower powder of this plant has been extracted with water and fractionated with different solvents. Extracts and their solvent fractions were found to be good scavengers of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. Free radical scavenging action of W spicata is due to its rich phenolic and flavonoid contents. Bark and leaf extracts showed significant scavenging action against superoxide radicals, where as flower extracts efficiently inhibited hydroxyl radicals. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.