Phytochemical Analyses and Evaluation of Antioxidant Efficacy of in vitro Callus Extract of East Indian Sandalwood Tree (Santalum album L.)

Abstract

The phytochemical constitution and antioxidant activity of in vitro grown callus cultures of East Indian Sandalwood tree (Santalum album L.) were investigated. The extractive yield for a dichloromethane-methanolic (1:1) solvent mixture was 4.3 %. The phytochemical screening revealed the extract’s richness in phenolics (18.2 µg), terpenoids (16.4 µg), saponins (9.4 µg) and flavan-3-ols (7.4 µg) per milligram of extract, as major constituents. This extract showed antioxidant activity in ferric reducing assay power (FRAP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), metal ion chelation, inhibition of lipid peroxidation and in scavenging of hydroxyl radical (OH.), 2, 2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS.), di (phenyl) (2, 4, 6-trinitrophenyl) iminoazanium (DPPH.) and nitric oxide (NO.) free radical scavenging and reducing power assays that was comparable to sandalwood oil and reference antioxidant such as quercetin, gallic acid and I±-tocopherol. We conclude that in vitro propagated callus shows immense potential as a renewable resource of antioxidant constituents.