Antioxidant Activities of Ethanolic and Aqueous Extracts of Asparagus racemosus Roots

Background: Asparagus racemosus (AR) is commonly known as shatavari, satawar or satmuli in India and in Thailand it is call sam-sib or rak-sam-sib. The dried root of AR is used in Ayurveda as an antiulcerous and antiinflammatory and has medicinal/pharmacological value. Objective: To investigate the antioxidant activities of Asparagus racemosus root extracts via total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of ethanolic and aqueous extracts. Methods: Antioxidant capacity measurements were carried out by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and the aluminum chloride colorimetric method, respectively. Results: The ethanolic extract possessed higher antioxidant capacities than the aqueous extract in the three antioxidant assays (p<0.05).These results have shown high phenolic and flavonoid contents. The ethanolic extract of AR root possessed higher amounts of phenolic and flavonoid contents than the aqueous extract. Conclusion: The antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract was higher than that in the aqueous extract.