Currently there has been an increased interest globally to identify antioxidant compound that are pharmacologically potent and have low or no side effects. As plants are source of natural antioxidants, much attention has been gain to plants. The quest for natural antioxidants for dietary, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses has become a major industrial and scientific research challenges over the last two decades. A variety of free radical scavenging antioxidants exist within the body in which many of them are derived from dietary sources like fruits, vegetables and teas. In this study methanolic crude extract of 10 traditionally used Indian medicinal plants were screened for their free radical scavenging and superoxide anion scavenging properties using Rutin and Curcumin as standard antioxidants. The overall antioxidant activity of ocimum sanctum was the strongest, followed in descending order by pterospermum acerifolium, Achyranthes aspera, Delonix regia, Mentha spicata, Datura stramonium, Coccinia indica, Hygrophilla auriculata, Cassia auriculata and Coriandrum sativum. Five plant, namely ocimum sanctum, pterospermum acerifolium, Achyranthes aspera, Delonix regia and Mentha spicata Showed strong super oxide anion scavenging activity. Both activities expressed as IC 50 and strong correlation showed between total polyphenolic contents in plants and their antioxidant activity.
