Pharmacognosy Magazine ISSN: 0973-1296 Vol 2, Issue 8, Oct - Dec, 2006 254 PHCOG MAG. An official Publication of Phcog.Net PHCOG MAG.: Research Article Antioxidant activity of a new diarylheptanoid from Zingiberofficinale Sajjad Khan M 1

Rhizomes of Zingiber officinale commonly known as ginger are used popularly as spices. This drug is also used in traditional system of medicine as antiulcer and antioxidant. Many phytoconstituents had been isolated from oil and oleoresins of ginger. In the present study, a new diarylheptanoid was isolated from the spent ginger devoid of oleoresin. The spent ginger was extracted with 50% methanol and partitioned with butanol. Column chromatography and preparative HPLC of the butanolic extract resulted in isolation of a new compound which was characterized as 3, 5 diacetoxy-7-(3, 4 dihydroxy phenyl)-1-(3, 4 dihydroxy phenyl) heptane (ZA6). In vitro DPPH, superoxide scavenging bioassay indicated that, this diarylheptanoid is a potent antioxidant.