Invitro antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of aqueous and ethanolic flower extract of Nymphaea alba

Nymphaea alba also known as the European White Waterlily, White Lotus or Nenuphar, is an aquatic flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae. The flowers are white and they have many small stamens inside. It contains the active alkaloids nupharine and nymphaeine, and is a sedative and an aphrodisiac/an aphrodisiac.In this study, the antioxidant activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts from flower of Nymphaea alba was evaluated by various antioxidant assays including total antioxidant, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and nitric oxide scavenging activities. Both extracts have exhibited significant antioxidant activity in DPPH, Nitric oxide and Hydroxyl radical induced invitro assay methods. The results indicate that both the extracts firmly possess strong antioxidant effects. Comparatively the ethanolic flower extract showed more antioxidant activity than the aqueous extracts. The results obtained from the present study indicate that the Nymphaea alba flower extract can be a potential source of natural antioxidant.