1.0 Introduction
Free radicals (reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species) have been implicated in a large number of pathological and disease conditions as well as in the aging process (Valdez et al., 2000). Evidences have suggested that the role of these free radical species especially the reactive oxygen species in the etiology and development of these pathological conditions may be through their oxidative damage to cells. However, other researches supported the idea that the destabilization of free radical generating pathways could play a role in causes and consequence of some diseased conditions (Mates et al., 1999). The oxidative stress experienced by a tissue or cell results from the negative imbalance between the production and removal of potentially damaging reactive oxygen species (Ros).
The removal rate is mostly controlled by a variety of antioxidants e.g glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase, Tocopherols (vitamin E, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) etc. The reduce rate of removal of reactive oxygen species may be due to reduce level of quantity and activity of these antioxidants. However, the low molecular weight antioxidants have been shown to be present in the various parts of different plants such as (khan et al., 2010). Hence plants are good sources of antioxidants to supplement the natural antioxidants of the body. Several studies have reported different total antioxidant capacity for various plants (bhalodi et al., 2008).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
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