Antioxidant activity

Oxidative stress is closely associated with the pathogenesis of anemia and several chronic disorders, making natural antioxidants an important source of therapeutic agents. The present study investigated the in vitro antioxidant potential and quantitative phytochemical profile of hydroalcoholic extracts of Spinacia oleracea, Withania somnifera, Emblica officinalis, and Caesalpinia bonducella. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using Folin–Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride colorimetric methods, respectively, while antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH, ABTS, nitric oxide, superoxide scavenging, reducing power, and FRAP assays. Among the tested plants, E. officinalis demonstrated the strongest antioxidant activity, exhibiting approximately 95.15% DPPH, 95.67% ABTS, 94.00% nitric oxide, and 95.18% superoxide radical inhibition at 500 μg/mL. C. bonducella showed comparable radical scavenging activity, whereas W. somnifera displayed moderate activity. S. oleracea contained the highest iron concentration (11.431 ppm) despite showing comparatively lower antioxidant activity. The findings suggest that the antioxidant efficacy of the selected plants is strongly associated with their phytochemical constituents, particularly phenolic and flavonoid compounds, supporting their potential application in the development of herbal hematinic formulations.