Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC)
Structural damage inflicted to a wide variety of bioorganic compounds (DNA, protein, carbohydrates,
and lipid) may occur as a consequence of oxidative damage which is naturally attributed to our daily
lifestyle. A number of mechanisms are exploited to neutralize the reactive oxygen species. Medicinal
plant can play a pivotal role of detoxifying the generated ROS. Leeamacrophylla (Leeaceae), a wild
medicinal plant, has been taken into consideration of having antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. In this
study, in vitro DPPH free radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content and total flavonoid content
of methanol extract from the leaves of L. macrophylla were determined with using UV
spectrophotometric method. Antioxidant activity of the crude extract was expressed as percentage of
DPPH free radical inhibition and IC50 value (μg/ml). The IC50 value of L. macrophylla was found to be
152.40μg/ml. Compared to standard ascorbic acid (4.36 μg/ml), L. macrophylla leaf extract has moderate
antioxidant property. The total phenolic content was 65.75 mg/g of dry weight of extract, expressed as
gallic acid equivalents