In vitro antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of Paeonia emodi (Wall.) rhizome methanol extract and its phenolic compounds rich fractions

The present study aimed to quantify the total phenolic content in Paeonia emodi rhizome methanol extract and its fractions and then evaluate the in vitro antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of fractions rich in phenolic compounds. Maximum quantity of total phenolic content was observed in butanol (112.08±5.5 mg GAE/g dw) and chloroform fraction (107.0±3.5 mg GAE/g dw) followed by methanol extract (94.2±4.4 mg GAE/g dw), aqueous fraction (92.9±2.5 mg GAE/g dw), ethyl acetate (62.3±8.3 mg GAE/g dw) and n-hexane fraction (51.6±7.2 mg GAE/g dw). The fractions rich in total phenolic content were evaluated for in vitro antioxidant activity based on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay. The butanol and chloroform fraction showed significantly (P