Phytochemical Screening and Free-Radical Scavenging Activity of Bergenia stracheyi

In an effort to reduce the undesirable consequences of synthetic food conservatives in human health and food industries, scientists have recently changed their interest to search new conservatives. Antioxidants are important inhibitors of lipid per-oxidation not only as a defense mechanism of living cells against oxidative damage but also for food preservation. The extracts prepared from Bergenia stracheyi herb were screened for flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids and glycosides. The free-radical scavenging activities of prepared extracts of Bergenia stracheyi were carried out using DPPH (1,1–Diphenyl-2-Picryl-Hydrazyl). The results of phytochemical screening of extracts confirmed the presence of amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, glycosides, phenolics, steroids, and terpenoids in Bergenia stracheyi. The results showed that all extracts of Bergenia stracheyi had radical scavenging activity. The free-radical scavenging activities of Bergenia stracheyi extracts may be due to its polyphenol content. Further research should be carried out to isolates compounds with radical scavenging capacity for industrial applications.