Antioxidants of Eichhornia crassipes: The World’s Worst Aquatic Weed

Abstract

The recent revival of interest in plant medicines across the globe and consequent pressure on precious herbal resources, calls for the
use of plants through scientific screening and validation. Free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have aroused significant
interest among scientists in the past decades. Their broad range of effects on the biological systems causing various diseases has
drawn attention of many experimental works. The world’s worst aquatic weed Eichhornia crassipes usually ranges from tropical desert
to subtropical or warm temperate desert to rainforest zones. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) one of the most extensively studied antioxidants
has been detected in majority of plant cell types. Compounds of Quinones like anthraquinone considered to be a chemical antioxidant
and possible therapeutic agents. Therefore, present investigation was planned to detect the presence of two bio-active compounds
viz. Ascorbic acid and Quinones in the shoot and rhizome of Eichhornia crassipes by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)
technique. The result obtained indicates that though plant is an aquatic weed is good services of phytochemicals needed for maintenance
of good health, can also be exploited in manufacture of drugs. Its screening and scientific evaluation proves beneficial for the
mankind along with the management of the plant.