ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGUS COLLETOTRICHUM SPECIES ISOLATED FROM POLYGALA ELONGATA

Abstract

Colletotrichum sp. was isolated as an endophyte of herbaceous plant Polygala elongata collected from Western Ghats, India. In vitro evaluation of antioxidant property of ethyl acetate extract of this fungus was done using ABTS and DPPH radicals. The ethyl acetate extract of Colletotrichum species showed potent antioxidant activity against both ABTS and DPPH radicals with the IC₅₀ value of 9.312μg/ml and 21.22μg/ml, respectively. Total amount of phenol and flavonoid quantified were of 1614mg/g gallic acid equivalents and 160mg/g of quercetin equivalent, respectively. In addition, total antioxidant capacity of the crude extract was evaluated by the phosphomolybdenum method and quantified as 23.695mg/g of Gallic acid equivalent. This study suggests that, the crude extract of Colletotrichum sp. may have potential source of natural antioxidant