The objective of the present study was to assess the estrogenic potential of different leaf extract of Petunia hybrida using the animal model. The extraction ability of different solvents for recovering extractable components from leaves followed the order: ethanol>chloroform>aqueous>pet ether. The findings of preliminary phytochemical analysis suggest the presence of alkaloids, saponin glycosides, phenolics, terpenoids, sterols, and flavonoids in the leaf of the plant. The total phenolic content of pet ether, chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of Petunia hybrida were 16.18±0.89, 23.97±0.61, 71.77±0.59 and 31.38±0.36 GAE mg/g, respectively. All the extracts were subjected to in vitro determination of antioxidant potential by DPPH method. The IC₅₀ value of the DPPH scavenging potential for the chlorofom, ethanol and aqueous extracts was found to be 245.9, 115.2 and 181.3µg/mL respectively whereas the IC₅₀ value of the pet ether extract was more than 250µg/mL. The ethanolic and aqueous extracts exhibited higher antioxidant potential as well as phenolic content and were evaluated for estrogenic potential in rats by uterine weight assay method. It was found that the extracts exhibited significant estrogenic activity but not comparable to the standard drug ethinyl estradiol. The results obtained led to the conclusion that Petunia hybrida leaves are a rich source of potential antioxidants and also possess the capacity to increase the estrogen level in animal. Estrogen receptor binding assays may be further carried out using the extracts to confirm the estrogenic mechanism of Petunia hybrida extracts.

Petunia hybrida, estrogenic, antioxidant, phenolic content, anthocyanin, DPPH

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