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Abstract : The aim of present study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the Methanolic root extract of Imperata cylin-drica (MEIC) by using various in-vitro models of antioxidant activity. The extract was comprised to phytochemical screening and quantitative determination of tannins and total phenols by spectrophotometric methods. Scaveng-ing of nitric oxide by MEIC was estimated by using Gries's reagent. Reducing the ability of MEIC was studied by using FeCl3 reagent. Ascorbic acid was used as standard in all the three methods. The extract showed the IC50 val-ue for nitric oxide scavenging method as 400.15± 1.934 μg/ml as compared to the standard ascorbic acid with IC50 value 269.75± 0.852 μg/ml. The extract was found to have been strong reducing power and the activity was com-parable to the standard ascorbic acid. The hydrogen peroxide scavenging capacity of MEIC was reported as IC50 value of 185.6± 1.551μg/ml as compared to the IC50 value of the standard ascorbic acid 128.5 ± 0.683μg/ml. MEIC showed significant antioxidant activity in all the three antioxidant models comparable to the standard. The phyto-chemical screening of the MEIC revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, triterpenoids, phenolic com-pounds/tannins, flavonoids, proteins and volatile oils. The tannin content of MEIC was found to be 12.53 ± 0.56mg tannic acid equivalent g-1 extracted powder. The total phenolic content was found to be 7.09 ± 0.14mg gallic acid equivalent g-1 extracted powder. The antioxidant potential of the methanolic extracts of Imperata cylindrica may be due to the presence of tannins and phenolic compounds. © JK Welfare amp; Pharmascope Foundation.