TITLE:
Investigation of the Phytoconstituents and Antioxidant Activity of Diospyros malabarica Fruit Extracts
AUTHORS:
Razib Datta Shubhra, Shakil Ahmed Polash, Tanushree Saha, Ashraful Hasan, Sharif Hossain, Zinia Islam, Satya Ranjan Sarker
KEYWORDS:
Diospyros malabarica, Phytochemical Assay, Total Phenol Content, Total Tannin Content, Total Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Activity
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.10 No.12,
December
10,
2019
ABSTRACT: Diospyros
malabarica (Deshi Gab) belonging to the family “Ebenaceae” grows well in the
humid tropical climate of Bangladesh. In order to investigate the
phytoconstituents both qualitatively and quantitatively, the seed and flesh
extracts of D. malabarica were
prepared using two polar solvents (i.e., water and 70% ethanol)
and a nonpolar solvent (i.e.,
hexane). The maximum yield was
obtained for aqueous and ethanolic seed extracts indicating that most of the
phytoconstituents present in D. malabarica fruit are polar. The
qualitative phytochemical analysis of the
extracts revealed the presence
of diverse amount of phytoconstituents in the extracts. On the other
hand, the quantitative phytochemical
analysis for phenols, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponin, proteins,
reducing sugar and vitamin C revealed that the maximum amount of phenols,
tannins, flavonoids and reducing sugar
were present in aqueous seed extract. However, the maximum amount of total
protein and vitamin C was found in ethanolic seed extract. D.
malabarica seed powder contained more amount of alkaloids (i.e., 13.6%) than that of flesh (i.e., 3.4%). However, the content of
saponin was more in flesh extract (0.74%) when compared to that of seed extract
(0.42%). In vitro antioxidant
properties of the extracts were also investigated by DPPH free radical scavenging assay, FRAP assay and reducing power assay. The highest antioxidant activity was observed for aqueous seed extract followed by the ethanolic seed, ethanolic flesh, and
aqueous flesh extracts. The lowest antioxidant activity was obtained for hexane
flesh extract. Furthermore, the lowest (i.e., 44.70 μg/ml) as well as
the highest (2359.66 μg/ml) IC50 values were obtained for aqueous seed and hexane flesh extracts, respectively.