14 Dixit et al. Evaluation of Phytochemical Constituents and Antioxidant activity of the Roccella montagnei Prateek Dixit 1 , Anjali Maurya 1 , Tripti Mishra 1 , Dalip Kumar Upreti 2 and Mahesh Pal 1 * 1 Phytochemistry Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, India 2 Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, India. Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment Vol 2, No. 1 (2017), e-ISSN :2456-0251, 14-18 Publication Info Article history: Received : 11.01.2017 Accepted : 15.04.2017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21756/ cab.v2i01.8610 Key words: Roccella montagnei; Phenolic acids; GC-MS; Antioxidant activity *Corresponding author: Tel.: 0522- 2297912, 0522-2297918 Email: drmpal.nbri@rediffmail.com myresearchjournals.com ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the phytochemical constituents of Roccella montagnei, qualitatively and quantitatively, found commonly in the Coromandel Coast, Tamil Nadu India. In the study we also executed phenolic acids identification by GCMS and more over estimation of their antioxidant potential for the very first time. As the several medicinal values have been reported previously hence this study was to find out the governing factors for these medicinal properties in Roccella montagnei. The Plant material was extracted with different solvent i.e. methanol, Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water. Phytochemical screening, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid content were analysed in all the solvent extracts the antioxidant activity was achieved by 2, 2-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Some commonly occurring phenolic were identified and quantified by GC-MS. Solvent extracts were phytochemically screened out. Total Phenolic and Flavonoid contents were estimated in different solvents extracts. Phenolic content were found in a higher amount comparative to flavonoids. Similarly comparative Antioxidant activity of various solvent extracts were determined in which methanolic extract showed marginally well antioxidant activity. Eight phenolic acids were identified by GC-MS as gallic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, rutin, chlorogenic acid and 4-hydroxy benzoic acid. Overall, present study provides a suitable criterion to qualitative and quantitative evaluation of Roccella montagnei lichen sample for new vista for the exploitation of this of Roccella for the development of herbal formulations. INTRODUCTION Lichen is a stable, ecologically obligate, self- supporting mutualism between an exhabitant fungus (the mycobiont) and one or more inhabitant, extracellulary located unicellular or filamentous algae (Hawksworth and Honegger, 1994). Lichens are an outstandingly successful group of symbiotic organism exploiting a wide range of habitats throughout the world. Lichens have been reported as a potential source of a variety of metabolites with diverse biological activities for example antibacterials, antitubercular (Marshak and Kuschner, 1950), anticancer (Williams et al., 1998), anti-HIV (Huneck and Yoshimura, 1996), antipyretic and analgesic (Müller, 2001). The majority of the compounds responsible for these activities originate from the fungal mycobiont. The lichen species Roccella montagnei (Roccellaceae) is a fruticose growth form, found common as epiphytes along the Coromandel Coast, Tamil Nadu, India and it is abundant in Pichavaram mangrove forests (Tehler et al., 2004). This lichen possesses a wide no. of compounds such as Roccellic acid, Orcinol, Lecanoric acid, Montagnetol, Methyl orsellinate, Meso-erythritol, Erythritol, -carotene and -sitosterol (Neelakantan et al., 1956). There are so many Previous reports which confirms the biological importance of Roccella montagnei for its Antimicrobial Antifungal activity (Balaji et al., 2006), antibacterial activity (Logesh et al., 2012), Insecticidal activity (Nanayakkara et al., 2010) and Anti-inflammatory Activity (Cetin et al., 2008). In our study, we aimed at comparing several phytochemical parameters, phenolic acid identification and Antioxidant properties of the medicinally important lichen species Roccella montagnei. As very few studies have been reported so far on phytochemical parameters. Hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate qualitative and quantitative phytoconstituents and antioxidant properties of the solvent extracts of Roccella montagnei. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Collection of Plant Material In the present study, lichen materials were collected from Kovalam Sea shore Bangalore India, in the month of October 2012 and were authenticated by Taxonomy Division, CSIR – National Botanical Research Institute Lucknow, India.