Free radicals can injure cells that cause diseases including inflammatory, cardiovascular, and cancerous diseases as well as speed up aging. Antioxidants avert free radicals-induced tissue damage by limiting the generation of free radicals, stimulating their breakdown, or scavenging them. The goal of this research was to carry out a comparative study of preliminary qualitative analysis and assess the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and the in-vitro antioxidant activities of the young stems (YS) and mature stems (MS) extracts of Piper chaba Hunter. A preliminary qualitative analysis was carried out following some standard methods; spectrophotometrically the total phenolic and flavonoid contents were computed through the Folin–Ciocalteu colorimetric method and aluminiumtrichloride (AlCl3) colorimetric assay accordingly, as well as antioxidant activities were assessed by DPPH free radicals scavenging activity assay. Preliminary qualitative analysis divulged the existence of carbohydrates, phenols, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, and terpenoids in both extracts but quinones and gums were found in YS and MS extracts respectively. A comparable amount of total phenolic contents (TPC), i.e. (67.37 ± 0.39 and 40.95 ± 0.23 mg GAE)/g, and total flavonoid contents (TFC), i.e. (347.51.74 ± 9.98 and 382.14 ± 10.05 mg QE/g) were noticeable in the extracts of the young stems (YS) and mature stems (MS) respectively which indicating the YS extract had greater TPC compared to the MS extract whereas the MS extract had higher TFC than the YS extract.
Keywords: Piper chaba Hunter, Antioxidant Activity, Phytochemical Screening, DPPH· scavenging assay.
30-Jun-2023
