Evaluation of antioxidant properties of <i style="">Canthium</i><i style=""> parviflorum</i> Lam. leaves

Abstract

Ethanolic extract of <b><i style="">Canthium</i></b><b><i style=""> parviflorum</i></b> <b>Lam.</b> leaves was analyzed for their total antioxidant capacity, reducing power, metal chelating, ABTS⁺ [2, 2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate] radical scavenging and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities. The extract at 500 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif'>g/ml showed maximum scavenging activity (51.60%) of ABTS radical cation followed by the iron chelation (45.12%) at the same concentration. However, the extract showed only moderate hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (6.42%). Total antioxidant capacity was found to be 12.9 mg ascorbic acid equivalents at 500 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif'>g/ml extract concentration. There was a positive correlation between the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, R² = 0.8313, whereas the correlation between the total flavonoids and antioxidant capacity was determined to be R² = 0.8102. The results suggest that phenolics and flavonoids in the leaves provide considerable antioxidant activity.