~ 4853 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2019; 8(3): 4853-4859 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2019; 8(3): 4853-4859 Received: 18-03-2019 Accepted: 27-04-2019 Anuradha Pannu Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Baba Mastnath University, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, Haryana, India Dr. Pawan Jalwal Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Baba Mastnath University, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, Haryana, India Dr. Balvinder Singh Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Baba Mastnath University, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, Haryana, India Corresponding Author: Anuradha Pannu Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Baba Mastnath University, Asthal Bohar, Rohtak, Haryana, India Extraction of phenolic compounds and evaluation of the antioxidant and phenolic compounds of onion ( Allium cepa L.) Anuradha Pannu, Dr. Pawan Jalwal and Dr. Balvinder Singh Abstract Onion is a versatile food which is used as traditional Indian spice. It is an essential part of food habit and has immense health benefits therefore consumed for its putative nutritional and health benefits for centuries. Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to Family: Liliaceae (lilies) and easily digestible aromatic vegetable used globally. Onions contains phenolics and flavonoids that have potential anti-inflammatory, anticholesterol, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. Moreover, onion is also prescribed to relieve headaches, coughs, snakebite, to facilitate bowel movements, erections and hair loss. A study found that on consumption of large amounts of Allium vegetables reduces the risk for gastric and prostate cancer. A Quercetin-3’-O-beta-D-glucoside isolated from A. cepa has antioxidant activity. Moreover, onion flesh and onion peel were also found to enhance antioxidant status in aged rats. Such an outcome has been attributed to the antioxidant, xanthine oxidase inhibitory, and superoxide radical scavenging activities of onion peel. Some epidemiological studies relate onion’s antioxidant activity to t he presence of organosulfur-compounds and flavonoids. Keywords: Allium Cepa, xantine oxidase, flavonoids, antioxidant Introduction Depression is also acknowledged as depressive condition and considered as multi-factorial disease associated with psychological and emotional imbalance. Depression is a chronic and life-threatening disorder affecting with a prevalence of approximately 5% in the general population. Moreover, depression is also responsible for huge burden on individual as well as families (P. Sobocki., 2006; N. Abe-Higuchi, 2016) [1, 2] . Since last several decades, the age for the onset of major depression has been decreased leading to a significant increase in overall incidences of depression (Blazer, 2000) [3] . Moreover, the enhanced numbers of incidences are not the result of changed approach of health experts or society, investigative criterion, reporting predisposition, and other parameters (Klerman and Weissman, 1989; Klerman, 1988) [4, 5] . Generally, any type of stressful event in life is considered as an initial sign of depression, therefore relating depression to the stressful events. Moreover, one more factor called as oxidative stress is found to have a significant role in the pathogenesis of depression (Nielsen et al., 2004) [6] . Onion is a versatile food which is used as traditional Indian spices. It is an essential part of food habit and has immense health benefits therefore consumed for its putative nutritional and health benefits for centuries (Krishnaswamy, 2008) [7] . Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to Family: Liliaceae (lilies) is easily digestible aromatic vegetable used globally. Onions contain phenolics and flavonoids that have potential anti-inflammatory, anticholesterol, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. Moreover, onion is also prescribed to relieve headaches, coughs, snakebite, to facilitate bowel movements, erections and hair loss (Park et al., 2007) [8] . A Quercetin-3’-O-beta-D-glucoside isolated from A. cepa has antioxidant activities (Yang et al., 2004) [9] . Moreover, onion flesh and onion pee were also found to enhance antioxidant status in aged rats (Di Renzo et al., 2007) [10] . Considering the presence of plethora of chemical constituents and numerous activities of A. Cepa, present study was designed to investigate the antidepressant activity of Allium cepa in laboratory animals. Material and Methods Swiss albino male mice (22-26 g) were used for the study. The animals were obtained from the animal house of M. M. College of Pharmacy, Mullana, Ambala. All the mice were kept in plastic rat cages with stainless steel coverlids and rice straw was used as bedding material. The animals were facilitated with environmental conditions of photoperiod (12:12 h dark: light cycle) and temperature (25 ± 2 °C). Animals were kept on commercial diet and water.