Phytochemical Screening and in vitro Antioxidant Evaluation of Ajuga iva

Author(s): Mohamed H Ladjimi, Karima Lahbib, Zaineb Ben Barka, Hanène Ben Miled, Khémais Ben Rhouma, Mohsen Sakly, Olfa Tebourbi

Oxidative stress was associated with several diseases. Many epidemiologic studies showed that antioxidant supplementation decreases the state of oxidative stress. The present work aims to study the in vitro antioxidant activity of different parts of Ajuga iva aqueous extract (AIE) simultaneously with a phytochemically analyze. The antioxidant activities of AIE were evaluated in terms of total antioxidant capacity evaluated by the phosphomolybdenum essay and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical method, as well as the ferric ion reducing power (FRP) and ferrous ion chelating (FIC) assays. All extracts showed a potent antioxidant activity and a powerful scavenging capacity in comparison with the ascorbic acid (AA) used as reference molecule. Importantly, Ajuga iva leaves exhibited the highest activity in comparison with stems and roots.