Phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of rare medicinal orchid Luisia zeylanica Lindl

Abstract

The present investigation deals with phytochemical screening and antioxidant activity of a rare medicinal orchid Luisia zeylanica Lindl. of Bangladesh. Extraction of the leaf, stem and root of the plant were fractionated into four fractions viz. Methanol, n-Hexane, Butanol and Dichloromethane (DCM). Qualitative assessment of phytochemicals mainly alkaloids and other secondary metabolites viz. flavonoid, steroid, saponin, phlobatannin, terpinoid, tannin, glycoside, anthroquinone, quinine and coumarin were screened out in this study. Among the three studied parts, leaf extract was found superior to others in terms of ten other studied secondary metabolites. Antioxidant activity of four different fractions of root, stem and leaf of Luisia zeylanica Lindl were also studied. Based on the acquired results it is concluded that, stem and root have the highest antioxidant activity. Present study provides novel findings on the efficacy of these orchid species and promotes the continued research of medicinal orchids in Bangladesh.