Functional Food, Myin-Khwa and its Antioxidant Activity and Acute Toxicity

Abstract

In this research, Hydrocotyle asiatica Linn. (Myin-khwa) has been chosen for chemical analysis. From phytochemical analysis, Myin-khwa was known to contain polyphenols, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, so it was chosen to determine antioxidant activity and acute toxicity. Nutritional values including moisture (7.75), ash (8.66 %), protein (8.89 %), fat (1.68 %), fibre (1.46 %) and carbohydrate (4.11%) of Myin-khwa residues were also investigated. Mineral contents of Myin-khwa were analyzed by using AAS method. From this study, the adequate amount of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Zn were present in dry Myin-khwa. Acute toxicities of ethanolic extract of Myin-khwa was determined by using Wistar Strain Rats and antioxidant activities of Myin-khwa extracts with four kind of solvents such as distilled water, ethanol, n-hexane and ethylacetate were determined by using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazine) assay. The highest radical scavenging effect was observed in Myin-khwa with IC50 - 0.66µgml-1 . The potency of radical scavenging effect of EtOH extract of Myin-khwa was greater than standard antioxidant ascorbic acid. From the acute test, it was found that the median lethal dose (LD50) was more than 18g/kg when administered orally.