Abstract

Air dried root of Cissampelos owariensis (P.Beauv) on steam distillation yielded 0.82% (w/w) of essential oil. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of 11 compounds, among which 1H-cyclopropa[a]naphthalene,1a, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 7a, 7b-octahydro-1, 1, 7, 7a-tetramethyl-,(1aR-1aa, 7a, 7aa, 7ba) was found to be the most abundant at 39%. The antioxidant features of the 3 extracts (methanol, chloroform, and n-hexane) of the plant were also evaluated by UV-visible spectrophotometer at 517 nm using inhibition of 2, 2 –diphenyl-1-picrylhyrazyl radical (DPPH) and vitamin C as standard. Out of all the extracts evaluated, only the methanolic extract exhibited potent antioxidant activity that was concentration dependent, followed by chloroform extract as compared with vitamin C.

Key words: Cissampelos owariensis, diphenyl-1-picrylhyrazyl radical (DPPH), essential oil, free radical scavenging, inhibition.