Aerva lanata (L.) root of the family Amaranthaceae is a Indian medicinal plant used traditionally for the management of Raktavikara, Sopha (Sotha), Dusta Vrana. The drug Gorakṣagañja is a good diuretic and the roots are given in dysuria (mūtra krichhra) and calculus (aśmari) (Halliwell, 2008). It is used for alleviating diseases caused by kapha and vāta doṣ. The roots are used (particularly in southern India) as an effective diuretic drug specially for calculus, as substitute or a source plant of Pāṣāṇabhēda. Studies that show the pharmacological basis for some of such uses have been reported. There is, however, no scientific report on its antioxidant activity of aqueous ethanol extract to the best of our knowledge. This study was therefore aimed at investigating the antioxidant Activity of aqueous ethanol extract of Aerva lanata. The antioxidant activity of aqueous ethanol extracts of root was evaluated by various in vitro antioxidant assays such as evaluation of reducing power, DPPH radical scavenging activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, superoxide anion scavenging activity. These results conclude that A. lanata root possesses high antioxidant activity and can be used for the development of natural and safe antioxidant compounds.
