Background: More than 700 plants are reported to be used for medicinal purposes in Nepal;\nhowever, many of them are not studied for their scientific evidences. The aims of the present study\nwere the estimation of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, and the evaluation of the free radical\nscavenging and alpha-amylase inhibitory activities of five selected medicinal plants from western Nepal:\nAeschynanthus parviflorus Wall. (Gesneriaceae), Buddleja asiatica Lour. (Loganiaceae), Carica papaya L.\n(Caricaceae), Drepanostachyum falcatum (Nees) Keng f. (Gramineae) and Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz\n(Anacardiaceae). Methods: The total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were\nmeasured using Folin-Ciocalteuâ??s phenol reagent and aluminium chloride methods, respectively.\nA 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay was used to evaluate the free\nradical scavenging activity and an alpha-amylase inhibitory assay was carried out to determine the in vitro\nantidiabetic activity. Results: The phytochemical screening of five hydroalcoholic plant extracts\nrevealed the presence of various secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, flavonoids, reducing\nsugars, saponins, terpenoids and tannins. The amounts of total phenolics and flavonoids were found\nto be the highest in B. asiatica leaf extract, which also showed the most potent free radical scavenging\nactivity. Extract of C. papaya fruits showed the highest alpha-amylase inhibitory activity, whereas the\nextracts of B. asiatica leaves and S. pinnata leaves exhibited moderate activity. Conclusions: Some of\nthe medicinal plants selected in this study showed high TPC and TFC values and potent bioactivities.\nThese results may provide the scientific evidences of the traditional uses of these plants. However,\nfurther detailed studies on bioactive compounds isolation and identification and evaluation of in vivo\npharmacological activities should be performed in future.
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