Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity of Plant-parasitic Macrofungus: Phellinus durissimus (Lloyd) Roy

Phellinus durissimus (Lloyd) Roy is a plant parasitic macrofungal drug, which is known to be used in traditional medicinal practices by tribes of South Gujarat. The methanol extract (PdM) was subjected to in vitro chemical assays like, DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) free radical, superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide scavenging activity, erythrocyte hemolysis test, β-carotene bleaching test, linoleic acid-ferric thiocynate and lipid peroxidation. This was followed by the evaluation of the ethyl acetate soluble (PdEs) and insoluble (PdEi) fractions of PdM, by DPPH free radical scavenging activity, linoleic acid-ferric thiocynate method and β-carotene bleaching test. PdM showed considerable antioxidant activity in most of the assays, yielding IC50 values between 50 to 100 μg mL^-1, baring hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and erythrocyte hemolysis tests, of which its activity in the former assay was much lower and the later was higher than the rest of the assays. PdEs and PdEi showed substantial activities in either of the DPPH and lipid peroxidation assays n comparison to each other. The current work is the first report that establishes P. durissimus has significant antioxidant potential which is comparable to or better than other species of Hymenochaetaceae.